214 



SUBANTARCTIC ISLANDS OP NEW ZEALAND. 



[Ecological Botany. 



Hypoperygium tamariscinum. Liverworts — Tylimanthus saccatm, Marsupidium Ur- 

 fUleanum, Plngiochila ramosissitna, P. strombifoUa, Leioscyphus chiloscyphus, Lopho- 

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

 C. fi^sitiptis, C. sinuosus, Ma^figobryum invohdum, M. novae-hollandiae, M. ani- 

 sostomum, Trichocolea tomentiUa, SchistochUa Lehmanniana, GoUschea pinnatifida, 

 G. Baljouriana, Frullania congesta, F. scandens, Madotheca Slrangeri, Radtda uvifera, 

 Podomitrium PhyUanthus, Symphiogyna flabellata, Aneura midtifida. Lichens — Sticia 

 Freycinefii. S. filicina, S. orygmaen, S. fragillima. Fungi — Antennnria scoriadea* 



Fio. 10. — Inteihob of the Kata Forest of thk AucKijkND Islands, showino Tanole of Buancues. 

 Here the usually dense undergrowth is almost wanting, except for a few ferns. 



*** Physiognomy, dc. 



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

 what dull-coloured 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 

 Dracophyllum longifolium. 



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

 prostrate and semi-prostrate trimks 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 does not pretend to any degree of conipleteness ; only the most striking 

 are mentioned. 



