Kirx.—On the Lake District of the North Island. 329 
restricted distribution of Fimbristylis dichotoma is no less remarkable. With 
one exception it is confined to the hot springs of Ohinemutu. At Otumako- 
kori, where it occurs very sparingly, it has doubtless been carried by travellers 
within a very recent period. 
The appended list of plants shows the paucity of the flora found in the 
immediate vicinity of Ohinemutu ; including naturalized plants it numbers 
less than 300 species. 
Tobacco is extensively cultivated by the Maoris about Ruapeka Bay, in 
small inclosures containing from 10 plants to 400, which are usually kept in 
the greatest order and neatness, the leading shoot being carefully pinched 
back as soon as the fourth or fifth leaf is fairly developed. Tobacco might be 
grown to a large extent in this district, and as the dried leaf sells wholesale 
for one shilling per Ib. in Auckland, the natives might readily secure a 
considerable income. Unluckily, however, they have no idea of the dignity 
of labour, and confessedly rank amongst the least industrious of their race. 
ROTOKAKAHI. 
The country between Whakarewarewa and Rotokakahi preseuts few 
objects of special interest, although the soil is more fertile than in the vicinity 
of Ohinemutu, and much of the vegetation more luxuriant. At Pareru the 
road runs through a small piece of bush in which Dicksonia antarctica is 
abundant, its massive column-like stems and umbrageous fronds present a 
most imposing appearance. I cannot assent to the correctness of Sir William 
Hooker’s conclusions in uniting D. lanata, Col., with this species ;* to me they 
appear to be abundantly distinct, the peculiarities of each being clearly 
developed even in diminutive specimens. 
In the narrow vallies Poa australis var. levis is abundant, occasionally 
mixed with Sporobolus elongatus, Microlena stipoides, and several introduced 
grasses. Dracophyllum subulatum is abundant in certain localities, Poma- 
derris phylicifolia and Lycopodium densum become very local, and are not 
observed south of the Waihorepa Valley, although I believe both these plants 
have an outlying locality in the South Island. 
In a stream fed by a small swamp near the southern extremity of Roto- 
kakahi, Montia fontana, L., occurs in great plenty. This is probably the 
northern limit’ of this widely distributed plant, which is here associated with 
its European congener Lemna minor. I estimate the altitude of the locality 
at under 1,500 feet. 
Rotokakahi presents but little variety in its vegetation, especially amongst 
the aquatic section. The fistulose form of Crantzia lineata occurs in from one 
to seven feet of water, as does a small Myriophyllum, which is probably 
* See Art. XLII. 
Å. Eil 
