Carse. — Flora of iJw Maugonui County. 197 



Kotepu (1,762 ft.), overlooking Victoria Valley. Behind this range are the 

 Maungataniwha Ranges, branching out from the hill of that name (1,912 ft.). 



It will thus be seen that the central and southern portion of the district 

 is very broken. High hills and deep valleys, heights almost mountainous, 

 separated by profomid gorges or deep gullies, form the chief features from 

 a bird's-eye view. This is the forest country of the district, and here, in 

 spite of the axes of the settler and bushman, many miles of bush-clad ranges 

 are still to be seen. 



It has been pointed out how the plants of any locality are not arranged 

 by chance, but are found in definite combinations, called technically " plant 

 formations," which have come into existence in consequence of the geo- 

 logical history of the region, the climate, the nature of the soil, and other 

 causes, some physical, others biological.* 



If we take a bird's-eye view of this or of almost any district we find 

 that the plant covering may be arranged into six more or less clearly de- 

 fined plant formations. These are the forest, the moorland, the swamp, 

 the lake and river, sea cliffs and beaches, and sand-dunes. In many cases, 

 no doubt, these forms, or some of them, are more or less merged into others, 

 but generally speaking their differences are clearly marked and the species 

 belonging to one formation keep to their own places, though vagrant forms 

 do at times intrude upon their neighbour's domain. 



The Forest Formation. 



Less than a century ago the greater part of southern Mangonui was 

 covered with dense forest. The axes of the settler, clearing the land for 

 purposes of grazing and cultivation, and of the bushman, felUng the trees 

 for timber, are rapidly making the forest primeval a thing of the past, but 

 there is still left standing sufficient of the old forest to give us a good idea 

 of what it consists. 



For p rposes of botanical study the forest formation may be divided 

 into three classes — the general bush, the kauri bush, and the kahikatea bush. 



The general bush varies more or less in its constituents according to soil, 

 elevation, slope, &c. By far the most common tree in this section is the 

 taraire, so much so that the name " taraire bush " is almost as applicable to 

 it as the names " kauri " and " kahikatea " to the sections in which these 

 trees predominate. 



In the taraire bush — as, in fact, in all bush — the covering consists of tall 

 trees, many of which bear, or are more or less covered by, epiphytic plants 

 and interlacing lianes, of smaller trees, shrubs, and tree-ferns, with a carpet 

 of creeping and other herbs, grasses, sedges, ferns, mosses, &c. In addi- 

 tion to the taraire, the more prominent trees are totara, rimu, miro, matai, 

 tawa, hinau, rewarewa, towai, kohekohe, &c. Of the smaller trees and 

 shrubs, mahoe, Hedycorya, Fusanus, various species of Coprosma, and in 

 damp places Fuchsia and pate (Schefflera), are the most common. The 

 surface covering, besides ferns, mosses, and allied plants, is made up of 

 sedges, grasses, orchids of various species ; and in many places Nertera 

 dichondrae folia, creeping and rooting as it goes, forms a characteristic feature. 

 Of sedges, the most prominent are Gahnia xanthocarpa and G. setifolia. 

 The principal native grasses to be seen are Microlaena avenacea and Oplis- 

 menus undulatif alius. Of the orchids I shall speak later. 



* " Report on a Botanical Survey of the Tongariro National Park," L. Cockayne, 

 Ph.D., F.L.S., &c. : Department of Lands, Wellingtoji, 1908. 



