324 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



berries. No other observer seems to have noted the occur- 

 rence of this curious phenomenon. It certainly is very rare, if 

 existent. Its little white bell-like corollas make Gaultheria 

 the prettiest of our common heaths. 



Mr. G. M. Thomson has tried to prove the existence of 

 a correlation, between the pungent tips of the leaves, in 

 certain species of this order, and the presence of herbivorous 

 animals. Leucopogon Frazeri, which has sharp-pointed leaves, 

 is found, not only in New Zealand, but also in Australia. 

 L. fasciculatus, which he erroneously states to be without 

 pungent leaf -tips, is endemic. Of five species of Archeria, 

 two found in New Zealand, and one in Tasmania, have rounded 

 apices to the leaves, whereas the two Australian species have 

 sharp-pointed tips. It is possible, that the acute apices 

 of the Australian plants, may be a protection against grazing 

 animals, but it is just as likely, that they may be an adaptation 

 to the drier conditions of the Australian climate. The fact 

 that many of the endemic species of the genus Dracophyllum 

 have leaves with pungent tips, seems in favour of the latter 

 hypothesis. 



This genus has its headquarters in New Zealand, with 

 a few outlying representatives in Australia and New 

 Caledonia. Plants belonging to it are generally known to 

 colonists as grass-trees, though this term is also applied in 

 Otago to the lance-wood (Pseudopanax) . The name is 

 doubtless due to the long grass-like leaves of most of the 

 species. The broad-leaved species, D. Traversii of the South 

 Island, and D. latifolium, found chiefly in the kauri forests 

 of the Auckland province, are known as nei-nei, and might 

 almost be taken for a kind of cabbage- tree. D. latifolium 

 produces a great spike of handsome red flowers. D. subulatum 

 and D. Urvilleanum are components of the heaths, the former 

 being found only in the North Island. D. longifolium is a 

 common sub-alpine tree in the South Island, reaching sea-level 

 in Southern Otago and Stewart Island. The leaves of D. 



