190 Essays, 
pasture on the flats and terraces, but superior in the little valleys falling 
from the mountains. ; 
In the lake district the pasture is superior, consisting of the finest 
grasses in the province ; and as the mountain region is fairly entered by any 
ofthe snow valleys that pour their waters into the lakes, a profusion of 
botanical beauty appears, unknown in the lower parts of the province. The 
shrubs in the river flats and sub-alpine slopes attain their maximum of 
growth and variety of species. On a few acres of the Matukituki River 
valley may be collected eight species of Olearia, six species of Coprosma, 
Discaria towmatou, with a stem eight inches diameter, Senecio cassinioides, 
eight species of Veronica, Aristotelia fruticosa, &c. 
In ascending Mount Alta, 7,000 feet altitude, the first 2,000 feet above 
the lake is covered with beech (Fagus fusca, Fagus menziesii, and F. solandri). 
The undergrowth of this beech bush is composed chiefly of Coprosma lucida, 
Plagianthus lyallii, Carpodetus serratus, Senecio eleagnifolius, Drimys colorata, 
and numerous young beech plants. Although the bush is composed prin- 
cipally of beech, occasional patches of Dacrydium, Podocarpus, Phylloclades, 
and other large trees are also present. Where the forest terminates on the 
mountains, which it always does in Otago under 4,000 feet altitude, numerous 
shrubs are still found higher, in the shelter of the gullies. Up to 5,000 
. feet may be classed as the sub-alpine zone, characterized by a belt of coarse 
tussock grasses, Celmisia, Veronica, and Ranunculus. It is in this zone, at 
the lakes, that Ranunculus lyallii attains its greatest growth. 
At the altitude of 6,000 and 7,000 feet, great slopes of dry débris pre- 
vail, and the true alpine zone is reached. The plants here are small, although 
many are fine flowerers. The species found are Pachycladon nove-zealandia; 
AMitrasaeme nove-zealandie, Logania tetragona, Ranunculus sinclairi, R. 
buchanani, Caltha nove-zealandie, Colobanthus acicularis, Claytonia austral- 
asica, Hectorella cespitosa, Coriaria angustissima, Epilobium purpuratum, 
Pozoa exigua, Aciphylla lyallii, A. monroi, Ligusticum haastii, L. piliferum, 
L. imbricatum, Coprosma pumila, Celmisia densiflora, C. haastii, O. incana, C. 
laricifolia, C. hectori, Brachycome sinclairi, Abrotenella inconspicua, Craspe- 
dia alpina, Raoulia grandiflora, Gnaphalium youngii, Haastia sinclairi, Fors- 
tera sedifolia, Helophyllum clavigerum, H. colensoi, H. rubrum, Wahlenbergia 
saxicola, Dracophyllum uniflorum, D. rosmarinifolium, D. muscoides, Gentiana 
sarosa, Myosotis pulvinaris, M. hectori, Veronica buchanani, V. hectori, 
Ourisia cespitosa, O. glandulosa, Euphrasia revoluta, Drapetes lyallii, Agrostis 
canina var. b., Poa foliosa, Plantago lanigera. This list does not exhaust the 
flora of Mount Alta; and as many alpines in this district are very local and 
. not included in it, the richness of the alpine flora of Otago is clearly shown. 
The flora of the West Coast is almost entirely forest, consisting of trees 
