102 



TUTIRA 



solitary selfish gloom, an exuberance of life prevails, a luxuriance 

 unknown elsewhere save in the true tropical zone. 



The woodlands of Tutira, in contradistinction to the forest described, 

 were confined to gorges deep and damp, gulches such as that of the 

 Maungahinahina, where the upper soils had been washed out, where 

 the marls had become exposed. With the exception of a valley 

 here and there, these woodlands were bare of great trees. Their 

 growth, compared to that of the ranges of the west for woodland 

 is but a preliminary step towards real forest, was one destined on 

 eastern Tutira never to progress beyond the initial stage. Vegetation 

 there was dependent on two factors rate of growth and frequency 

 of landslips. The slower-growing pines, for example, had never 

 time given them to find deep anchorage. Whilst still saplings they 



were swept to perdition by earth- 

 avalanches following heavy floods. 

 The surface of the ground was re- 

 newed too constantly to allow the 

 maturing of any but fast-growing and 

 free-seeding species. In this light bush, 

 tawa (Bielschmiedia taiva), mahoe or 

 hinahina (Melicytus ramiflorus), ngaio 

 (Myoporum Icetum) unseen on western 

 Tutira except after fires, rangiora (Bra- 

 chyglottis rangiora), makomako wine- 

 berry (Aristotelia racemosa), fuchsia 

 (Fuchsia excorticata), and koromiko 

 (Veronica salicifolia), were the most 

 common trees and shrubs. 



Small groups of the New Zealand 

 palm, nikau (Rhopalostylis sapida), 



and single plants of karaka (Corynocarpus Icevigatus), grew also in 

 the woods of the extreme eastern corner of the run. Thickets of 

 supplejack (Rhipogonum scandens), entanglements of "lawyer" (rubus 

 sp.), ropes of clematis and vine, were even more dense than in the forest 

 of the west. The soils were richer, the warmth greater. Everywhere, 

 moreover, the ground beneath these woods was ploughed and reploughed 

 by pig in search of drupes, roots, and grubs. 



A mere shred of Tutira was under marsh or swamp ; such areas 



Nikau Palm. 



