Armstrone.—On the Flora of the Province of Canterbury. 331 
1. The zone of Beeches. 
2. The zone of shrubby Composite and Scrophularinee. 
8. The zone of Herbaceous plants, à 
4. The zone of perpetual Snow. 
The lowest of these zones—that of beeches—is principally covered with 
grasses of a useful character, and patches of Fagus solandri and F. clifforti- 
oides, which are almost the only trees of this zone. Both are valuable 
timber trees, and only require to be better known to be more appreciated. 
À number of shrubby species are common in this zone, such as species of 
Korokia, Coprosma, Discaria, Dracophyllum, Podocarpus, Panaz, and Pimelea, 
In a few breaks in the great Alpine chain, such as Arthur's Pass, a 
number of shrubs occur which do not properly belong to the Canterbury 
flora, but are escapes from the upland region of Westland, which contains 
very many plants different in character from those of Canterbury. Among 
these Westland plants may be mentioned the beautiful scarlet rata, Metro- 
sideros lucida, the hini, Dracophyllum traversii, and the musk-tree, Olearia 
colensoi, all of which are found on Arthur’s Pass, and are most magnificent 
plants. Some curious plants of the natural order Umbellifere, form a peculiar 
feature in the lower part of this zone. I refer to the species of Aciphylla, or 
spear-grass, which totally differ in aspect from any other known genus. This 
zone usually rises to about 3,800 feet, at which height the beeches generally 
cease suddenly, and are succeeded by dense masses of shrubby Veronicas, 
Olearias, and Senecios, which appear to me to form a well-defined zone. The 
great beauty of these shrubs has induced their cultivation in the gardens of 
the colony. The Veronicas number no less than forty distinct species, some 
of them of very extraordinary habit, and all, without exception, of great 
beauty. 
Olearia has seven or eight fine species, and Senecio six ; all of which, 
together with the Veronicas, are confined to the colony, and not a few of 
them to the province of Canterbury. This zone rises to 4500 feet. 
The zone of herbaceous plants ascends to 6000 feet, and occasionally to 
7000 feet in the northern part of the province. It possesses an immense 
number of hardy species of beautiful appearance and most remarkable 
character. Prominent among them are the numerous species of Celmisia, 
the mountain forget-me-nots (Exarrhena), the well-known mountain lily 
(Ranunculus lyallii), and many other species of the same genus equally 
beautiful but not so well known, such as Ranunculus godleyanus—which is 
the finest of all known Ranuncwli—R. haastii, R. chordorhizos, and R. 
travers. The pretty white-flowered Ourisias are common, and also many 
others of equal beauty. The flowering plants which reach the highest 
elevations are Forstera sedifolia and Abrotanella inconspicua, both of which I 
have gathered at 7000 feet, 
