364 Transactions.— Botany. 
coasting craft can enter on either side, although great care is requisite. 
-Whangatau is becoming fixed by vegetation in iis widest part, but is 
continually varying in its outline and in the depth of water covering that 
portion comprised between tide marks. From the mouth of the harbour to 
Omaha Cove the coast is rocky, and in some places precipitous. At a low 
elevation there is a considerable extent of fern land. 
The larger portion of the hill is clothed with dense forest, the kauri and 
the tarairi (Nesodaphne tarairi) often forming large groves. The tawai 
(Fagus fusca) is also a social tree, and attains a large size, while it does not 
favour a luxuriant undergrowth of shrubs. One or two ranges are covered 
almost exclusively with pohutukawa of the straight symmetrical habit of 
growth known as “inland pohutukawa,” which contrasts forcibly with the 
huge distorted specimens growing on the margin of the sea. Fine specimens 
of tanekaha (Phyllocladus trichomanoides) are abundant, and the toa-toa 
(P. glauca) occurs in one or two localities, while the kawaka (Libocedrus 
doniana) is comparatively rare. The puriri (Vitex littoralis) is abundant. 
Pittosporum crassifolium and P. eugenioides form large specimens, and on the 
summit of Mount Hamilton P. kirkii is epiphytic on the rata and other trees, 
The tawa (Nesodaphne tawa) is found in large quantities mixed with toro 
(Persoonia toro), rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum), kahikatea (Podocarpus 
dacrydioides), hinau (Elæocarpus dentatus) and other well known trees. 
The various arms of the harbour are fringed with a growth of mangroves 
(Avicennia officinalis) usually of great luxuriance, which is, however, dying off 
in many places from being frequently cropped by cattle. Many of the creeks 
have their rise far back in the ranges, and in some instances form a series of 
fine cascades several hundred feet in height, often decorated with tree ferns, 
and more than usually picturesque in effect. In some places they flow 
amongst fallen masses of sandstone covered with Hypnum albicans and other 
mosses not commonly met with, perchance between steep banks clothed 
with Hlatostemma rugosum in vast abundance, or yet again between rocky 
wooded slopes often covered with masses of Corysanthes ; nearly all the species 
of this charming genus occur in the district. The stream called by the settlers 
the Pakiri Creek has its stony bed above tide limits covered with a dense 
growth of Nertera cunninghamii to an extent rarely to be seen elsewhere. 
Many small Orchids, besides the various species of Vematoceras, are found 
in the district. TZhelymitra pulchella and T. imberbis are abundant. The 
rare Adenochilus gracilis and Chiloglottis cornuta attain their northern limit so 
far as at present ascertained, 
Whangatau beach affords a fine habitat for littoral plants. Most of the 
New Zealand species which occur in littoral situations are found here ; 
amongst them Atriplex billardieri attains its southern limit, and is plentiful in 
