Adams. — On the Botany of the Thames Goldjields. 387 



was on the ridge between the head waters of the Puru and Waiomio Creeks. 

 It was evidently a straggler from Whakairi, although not observed on that 

 mountain. On Kaitarakihi it is very abundant, and it can be found on the 

 wooded sides of all the high peaks to Te Aroha Mountain. The other rare 

 plants abundant on the hill are Panax simplex, Coprosma colensoi, and Cor- 

 dyline indivisa. The last-mentioned plant I have seen on no other moun- 

 tain nearer the Thames than Pirongia ; but I am informed by the Maoris 

 that it is plentiful on Te Aroha Mountain, and that many a battle was 

 fought between the natives at Te Aroha and other tribes who desired this 

 plant to make from it their war mats. 



The most southern peak examined was Pakirarahi, which is a trig, 

 station at the head of a tributary of the Tairua Kiver. It abounds in plants 

 that appear on Kaitarakihi only as stragglers from it. These plants are 

 Melicytus lanceolatus, Olea montana, Gaultheria rupestris, and Dracophyllum 

 striatum. 



Melicytus lanceolatus is as common on the sides of this mountain as 

 Coprosma fatidissima on the sides of Kaitarakihi. 



The rarest plant on the mountain is Pvneleabuxifolia which was found in 

 one place only, and that was on the summit of some immense rocks that 

 form curious archways and buttresses on a ridge leading to the trig, 

 station. 



I traversed every ridge in the neighbourhood of the peak for other 

 plants, but found none. 



The Tairua diggings, now deserted, are situated at the foot of this 

 mountain, and there is a plant that grows so plentifully in the clearings 

 and along the pack- track that it deserves notice. I refer to Cordyline 

 pumilio, which, mingled with Gahnia lacera, covers hundreds of acres. This 

 plant has a sweet root that is roasted and eaten by the natives, and re- 

 sembles the root of the ti (Draceena) of the Tahitian Islands. The Maori 

 name for the plant is tirauriki. 



I mentioned before that I desired to make comparison between the 

 growth of vegetation on the east side with that on the west, and I thought 

 that the succession of plants that obtained on the west side from sea-level 

 to the summit of the dividing range, would also obtain on the east side. It 

 appears to me, however, that there is a great distinction, and that zones of 

 vegetation are more marked on the west than on the east side. In ascend- 

 ing from the west side, the ordinary ericetal plants, growing on bare hills 

 covered chiefly with Leptospermum scoparium and Pteris aquilina, are suc- 

 ceeded by taua, rata, rimu, hinau, and tawhero, which give place at a 

 height of 1,700 feet to Quintinia, Ixerba, kauri, and Gahnia. But on the 

 east side there is no such well-marked distinction, for the mountain plants 



