TowNSON. — Oil Vegetation of Westport District. 403 



neighbourhood seems to be the meeting-place of many northern 

 and southern species. Another interesting feature of this part 

 of the West Coast is the low elevation at which alpine and sub- 

 alpine plants occur, some of them, such as Celmisia coriacea, 

 Anagospermum dispermum, Liparophyllmn gunnii, and Claytonia 

 australasica, being found at sea-level. 



If I had had the opportunity of making a closer and more 

 exhaustive search over the area included in the appended sketch- 

 map no doubt many more species and varieties than the 755 

 comprising my catalogue would have been obtained, and this 

 number with the thirty-four contained in the supplementary 

 list makes a total of 789. Seventy- four natural orders are 

 represented, Filices heading the list with ninety-two species, 

 Compositae coming next with seventy-six, followed by Cyperaceae 

 with fifty-six, Graminesa with thirty-nine, Scrophularineae with 

 thirty-four, and Orchideee with thirty-two. Carex takes the lead 

 amongst the genera with twenty-five species, Coprosma follows 

 with twenty, and Celmisia accounts for seventeen. Some plants, 

 such as Drimys traversii and Metrosideros parkinsonii, are very 

 rare outside the district. Some few make their appearance for 

 the first time in the South Island — viz., Lepidium flexicaule, 

 Gnaphalium subrigidum, Pterostylis venosa and P. puberula, and 

 Corysanthes cheesemanii ; and it yet remains to be proved by 

 future observers whether the new species, such as Aciphylla 

 townsoni, Celmisia dubia, Wahlenbergia saxicola var. congesta, 

 Dracophyllum townsoni aiid D. pubescens, Myosotis townsoni, 

 Veroyiica macrocarpa var. crassifolia and F. divergens, Totvn- 

 sonia deflexa, and Prasophyllum rufum, are confined to the district 

 or have a more extended range. 



I feel that my thanks are due not only to Mr. Cheeseman, 

 who suggested the work and helped it through its various stages, 

 but to Mr. A. McKay, from whose geological report I obtained 

 all my information on geology, and from which I largely quoted, 

 and also to the companions who accomj^anied me on many 

 expeditions, and often had to put up with hardships and ex- 

 posure to which they had not been inured — who were often leg- 

 weary and yet never complained, and in that way helped forward 

 my botanical work, of which this catalogue is the outcome. I 

 must not omit recording my thanks also to the County Engineer, 

 who kindly lent me an outfit when going on a camping-out 

 expedition into the Lyell Ranges. 



In describing the new species I have not given any minute 

 details, as that has been done so well by Mr. Cheeseman in his 

 very excellent " Manual of the New Zealand Flora." 



