Kigk.— On the Botany of the Bluff Hill. 401 
on the exposed portion are occupied by patches of swamp, but much of the 
Surface vegetation has been destroyed by repeated burnings, so that at first 
sight it appears about as unfavourable a locality for rare plants as could 
well be imagined. 
Its southern face is covered with forest, bearing a general resemblance 
io the Seaward forest; but differing in the reduced proportion of matai and 
iron-wood, and in the diminished luxuriance caused by exposure, elevation, 
and soil. 
The chief timber trees are the kamai (Weinmannia racemosa ), rimu 
(Dacrydium cupressinum), miro (Podocarpus ferruginea), and iron-wood 
( Metrosideros lucida); of these the kamai is the most abundant; many 
specimens rival in size and luxuriance the finest to be seen in the Seaward 
forest, although in most cases they are of less dimensions. 
A dense growth of Olearia nitida, Veronica elliptica, Aristotelia fruticosa 
and other shrubs is found at the sea margin, and gives shelter to a number 
of ferns and herbaceous plants, the most noteworthy of the former being 
Lomaria dura, which, like its near ally L. banksii, never grows far out of 
reach of the sea spray. On the outskirts of the forest the trees are much 
shorn and stunted by the wind: the largest trees occur in the hollows and 
sheltered places, still serviceable timber is found near the summit, 
Although the yield of timber per acre is very small when compared with 
the best parts of the sheltered forest on the downs, it would be more 
durable in quality. 
A few cattle have access to the forest, but no great amount of injury has 
resulted from this cause at present. In all directions young trees were 
plentiful, from seedlings upwards, showing that a continuous process of 
renewal is taking place. 
The underwood and the herbaceous vegetation exhibited the greatest 
luxuriance of growth ; some of the leaves of the tataramoa ( Rubus australis ) 
were the largest I ever saw.  Chiloglottis cornuta, an orchidaceous plant 
growing in several localities from Omaha to the Chatham and Auckland 
Islands, but remarkably local, exhibited a stout, robust habit quite new 
to me. Juncus nova-zelandica attains an extraordinary size, and exhibits 
a marked contrast to the ordinary specimens found on the open side of 
the hill. In sheltered places near the summit Cyathodes acerosa assumes 
a free growing luxuriant habit not frequent even in the north, and, with its 
profuse display of white and red fruit, presents a most attractive appearance. 
This remarkably luxuriant growth of the shrubby and herbaceous vegetation 
was evident wherever shelter could be obtained from the direct action of the 
wind, and must be chiefly attributed to the great amount of moisture con- 
stantly present in the creer qe and which is prevented from becoming 
injurious by the frequent high winds zl 
