330 Trciixactionfi. 



form of Craspedia fimhriata, while cai the stony beach are large, 

 circular, silvery patches of Raoulia australis* 



Many more examples of mountain plants gi'owing naturally 

 at abnormally low altitudes could be given, but the subject is 

 of too much importance for a brief treatment such as could be 

 afforded here. 



11. Occurrence of Coastal Plants Inland. 



So long ago as 1871, Mr. T. Kirk (29) pointed out how certain 

 coastal plants occurred far from the reach of tidal waters in the 

 Waikato district. Among these species were such well-known 

 coastal plants as Selliera radicans, Ruppia maritima, Scirpus 

 maritimus, and Leptocarpus simplex. To explain this distribu- 

 tion Kirk called in Hochstetter's conception of an ancient shal- 

 low arm of the sea in the middle Waikato basin. Since that 

 time many more facts as to occurrence inland of coastal plants 

 have been recorded. Thus several occur on the shores of the 

 central North Island lakes, of which perhaps the most interest- 

 ing is the beautiful tree Metrosideros tomentosa, which occupies 

 similar positions on the cliffs of Lake Taupo, Lake Rotoiti, &c., 

 to what it does on the coast of the northern floristic province. 

 Near hot springs at Ohinemutu and elsewhere grow Leptocarpus 

 simplex and Triglochin striatum filiforme. 



The South Island also supplies some interesting examples. 

 On the Maniototo Plain or its neighbourhood Petrie recorded 

 Chenopodium triandrum, C. glaucum, ambiguuyn., Atriplex buchan- 

 ani, Senecio lautus, and Ranunculus acaulis. From near Lake 

 Wanaka he collected Selliera radicans (37). Linum monogynum 

 occurs on the upper Canterbury Plain and reaches to the base 

 of the Southern Alps, and to similar altitudes in south Nelson. 

 Angelica geniculata, which Kirk did not believe to extend in- 

 land, was noted by me at a slight elevation on the Rock and 

 Pillar Range, Otago, and also at the Lower Waimakariri Gorge, 

 where it is accompanied by other coastal plants. 



How far all the above cases denote a former shrinkage of 

 the land and extension of the coast-line inland is not for a 

 botanist to settle, but certainly, so far as geological evidence 

 goes at present, they are suggestive, to say the least. 



A more interesting case, perhaps, is that of the limestone 

 rocks at Castle Hill, Canterbury, the Weka Pass, and else- 



* This subalpine " patch plant " is also common on stony river-beds 

 of the lowland region, reaching high-water mark near the mouth of the 

 Rakaia, which it has probably reached in the first instance through water- 

 carriage. 



