194 NEW ZEALAND PLANTS. 
Besides the botanical districts already dealt with in this chapter 
there are also those belonging to the outlying islands. Thus the 
Kermadec Islands form the Kermadec Botanical District ; the Chat- 
ham Islands, the Chatham Botanical District ; and the New Zealand 
Subantarctic Islands may be divided into the following botanical 
districts: The Snares, the Lord Auckland, the Campbell, the 
Antipodes, and the Macquarie. As these districts have received 
perhaps more than their due share of recognition in Chapter IX, 
no further details are given here. 
As certain of the botanical districts have a good deal in common, 
those related to one another can be united into groups of a more 
comprehensive character, here called “ botanical provinces,’ con- 
venient for statistical and other purposes. The New Zealand Botanical 
Region may be divided into botanical provinces as follows: (1) The 
Kermadec Botanical Province ; (2) the Northern Botanical Province, 
which includes the Three Kings Islands, together with the two 
Auckland Botanical Districts ; (3) the Central Botanical Province, which 
includes the East Cape, Volcanic Plateau, and Ruahine-Cook Botanical 
Districts ; (4) the Southern Botanical Province, which includes all the 
South Island (except the South Island portion of the Ruahine-Cook 
Botanical District), together with Stewart Island; (5) the Chatham 
Botanical Province, which includes all the Chatham Island group ; 
(6) the Subantarctic Botanical Province, which includes all the New 
Zealand subantarctic islands. 
The next point that demands attention concerns the actual travels 
and methods of travelling of the plants. 
A few statistics show clearly that many New Zealand plants 
have done a good deal of travelling in New Zealand itself. Thus, 
out of 517 purely lowland species, 249 occur in all the botanical 
provinces, and 102 of these have managed to reach Stewart Island. 
There are also 348 additional species which have been able to climb 
high into the mountains. Other species, again, have done no 
travelling worth mentioning, while still others are alleged to have 
come all the way from Australia to New Zealand, or even from 
South America, or vice versa. 
The most important method of travelling is by means of the 
wind. Many seeds or fruits are so constructed that they can fly 
long distances. It is a most familiar sight to see thistledown flying 
high in the air, the down really a crown of hairs attached to the end 
cee 
