348 Transactions. — Botany. 



swamp at its base. I found this an excellent collecting- 

 ground, and a couple of hours were profitably spent in 

 examining it. Large tufts of Lomaria hanksii were common 

 on the wet lignite, mixed with such plants as Plantago 

 raoulii, Lobelia, Samolus, Apium australe, Fuchsia pro- 

 cumbens, and a curious variety of Cotula minor. In the strips 

 of swamp were Tyjoha, Cladium articulatum, Leptocarpus, 

 ^lyriophylhim varicefolitim, Mazus, Glossostigma, and Epilo- 

 bium chionanthum. I also observed a few tufts of Nephro- 

 dium iinitum, one of those tropical ferns which in New 

 Zealand are found almost solely in soil heated by hot springs. 

 It was first noticed in the " far north" by Mr. J. B. Simpson, 

 who as far back as 1886 sent me specimens gathered in a 

 swamp near Ohora. Kesuming our journey, the monotonous 

 line of sand-dunes again appeared, and continued until we 

 reached Hukatere, about twenty-five miles from Ahipara, 

 where we camped for the night. 



Early the next morning we left for Ohora, on the eastern 

 coast. For the first two or three miles the track, if such it 

 can be called, led us over moving sandhills as near as pos- 

 sible free from vegetation. On our right was Hukatere Hill, 

 a dome-shaped elevation perhaps 250ft. high, covered with 

 Cassinia, Lcj)tospermum, and Ptcris. To the left white rolling 

 sandhills stretched as far as we could see. The chief plants by 

 our line of march were Desmoschcejius, Leptocarpus, Arundo, 

 Goprosma acerosa, and MuJilcnbeckia complexa. It was curious 

 to see huge tussocks of Lcptocarims elevated upon pillars 

 as thick as a man's waist, and 4ft. and 5ft. high, altogether 

 formed of the compacted roots and rhizomes of the plant. 

 We passed a few small lagoons, round the mai'gin of which 

 were great quantities of Limosella and Glossostigma, accom- 

 panied by a curious Eleocharis, probably identical with E. neo- 

 zealandica, Clarke. Shortly after, we reached the consolidated 

 sands which separate the moving dunes of the west coast from 

 those of the east. They proved to be barren and dreary in the 

 extreme. Stunted tea-tree and fern on the hills and Cladium 

 teretifoUum in the broad swampy gullies formed the chief 

 vegetation. Cassytha was everywhere parasitic on the tea-tree, 

 its interlaced and trailing branches constantly catching the 

 feet of the traveller if he attempted to leave the path. In a 

 large wet swamp I gathered Scirjms fluitans, not previously 

 seen to the north of the middle Waikato basin. We arrived 

 at Ohora soon after mid-day ; a violent thunderstorm, with 

 the most vivid lightning, accompanied by heavy rain, driving 

 us into a gum-shed for the rest of the day. 



Ohora Harbour is a long and narrow inlet situated half-way 

 between Mangonui and Parengarenga. The entrance is little 

 more than a quarter of a mile in width, and almost in the 



