•214 



SUBANTARCTIC ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND. 



[EcohujicdJ liotdiiij. 



Hypopferygium tamariscinum. Liverworts — Tylimanthus saccatus, Marsupidium Ur- 

 viUedniiin, Plngiochila ramosissima, P. stromhifolia, Leioscyphus chiloscyphus, Lopho- 

 colea pallida, L. lenta, L. allodontn, L. fulva, Cheiloscyphus Menziesii, C. Billardieri, 

 C. fissitipus, C. sinuosus, Mastujohryum involutum, M. novae-hoUandiae, M. ani- 

 sostomum, Trichocolea tomentiUa. Hcliistochila Lehmanniana, Gottscliea pinnatifida, 

 G. Balfouriann, Frullania congesta. F. scandens, Madotheca Strangeri, Radula uvifera, 

 Podomitrium Phyllanthus, Symphiogyna flahellatd, Aneura multifida. Lichens — Sticta 

 Freycinetii, S. filicina, S. orygmaea, S. frngi/fi»i(i. Funa;i — Antennaria scorindea.* 



Fk.. 1(1. - Im] i;mi; hi iiiK 1;ata Fi>i:i:st di' iiiic Ar(iu,AN]> Isi.am>>. shonaing TAMii.K ni' Bkam hek. 

 HtTc tlie usually ilense uiKlergruwth is ainiobt wanting, txcept for a few ferns. 



*** Pht/siognomi/, etc. 



Seen from a distance, the rata forest appears as a close, liomogeneous. some- 

 what dull-colourecl covering, resembling a mass of shrubs rather than trees (fig. 2). 

 A closer view shows a flat or often slightly undulating green roof of extreme density, 

 which in some places is pierced by the upmost branches of the upright-growing 

 Dracophylluni longifoliuiii. 



Within, the general view is remarkable enough. Everywhere are the massive 

 prostrate and semi-prostrate trunks of the southern rata (Metrosideros lucida), some- 

 times lying close to the ground, at other times forming great arches, or at others again 



* This list of cryptogams docs not pretend to any degree of completeness ; only the most striking 

 are mentioned. 



