326 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1949 
families. (See pl. 3, fig. 1.) Later he will meet the strikingly dif- 
ferent southern-beech forest, composed almost entirely of one or two 
species of Nothofagus and few shrubs. (See pl. 1, fig. 2.) There, if he 
is from the Temperate Zone of North America or Europe, the traveler 
will feel much more at home, although all the plants will be new to him. 
The rain forest in New Zealand is clearly tropical in its origin and 
affinities; indeed, it is often designated as subtropical rain forest, 
although it lies entirely in the Temperate Zone. Its character is the 
result of the oceanic climate with its mild, rather uniform temperatures, 
and its abundant, evenly distributed rainfall, which assures a high 
atmospheric humidity throughout the year. The southern-beech 
forest of Nothofagus, however, is clearly temperate in origin, with its 
nearest affinity the Nothofagus forests in Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, 
and southern Chile, on one side, and in Tasmania and adjacent 
Australia, on the other. This forest occurs in New Zealand in cooler 
and less humid regions than most of the rain forests. It depends 
more on ground water and thrives in a less humid atmosphere. All 
the forests in New Zealand are evergreen. There are a few deciduous 
trees but none of them are forest dominants, so there are no deciduous 
forests in New Zealand. 
The rain forest is complex, the beech forest relatively simple. These 
two forests may be contrasted in part, as follows: 
Rain forest Southern-beech forest 
Tropical in appearance. Temperate in appearance. 
Composed of many tree species in many Composed of one or two tree species in 
genera. one genus. 
Dense within. Open within. 
With several plant strata.‘ With only an open layer of shrubs be- 
tween canopy and ground. 
Bases of trunks often with plank but- Trunks without buttresses. 
tresses. 
With many vines or lianas. With very few vines. 
Loaded with epiphytes. With only a few parasites. 
With many ferns. With few ferns. 
Each forest formation has various forest associations within it, these 
being quite complex in the rain forests and relatively simple in the 
southern-beech forest. The forest associations are named according 
to the dominant species within them, the principal associations in the 
rain forests being: (1) kauri (Agathis australis—Pinaceae), (2) mixed 
dicotylous-taxad,®? and (3) “white pine” or kahikatea (Podocarpus 
dacrydiovdes). 
4 “Forest is piled upon forest.””—Humboldt. 
5 Cockayne’s term for this forest association varies. It is called a mixed taxad forest (6) and dicotylous- 
podocarp forest (7). Species of New Zealand “pine,’’ Podocarpus or Dacrydium, members of the yew family 
Taxaceae, are dominant or characteristic. There are also many trees of various families of dicotyledons, 
whose seeds have two cotyledons in contrast with the conifers which have several and the monocotyledons 
with only one cotyledon. The use of the term dicotylous rather than dicotyledonous is in conformity with 
Cockayne’s usage (7). 
