Adams. — On the Botany of Te Aroha Mountain. 277 



On a secondary range, lying to the right of the old Maori track from 

 Wairongomai to Katikati, and elevated about 900 feet above the plain, I 

 was pleased to find two lakes, one of which appears to be 10 chains long 

 and 1 chain wide. 



The borders of this lake are not swampy, and the middle of it appears to 

 be deep. The Maoris informed me that it was a favourite place for fishing 

 for eels. It is frequented by wild ducks and river gulls. Here I found 

 Myriophyllum robustum, Aristotelia fruticosa, Myrtus pedunculata, Eugenia 

 maire, Dacrydium intermedium, in addition to the ordinary hill vegetation. 



On the dividing range between Wairongomai and Katikati I found no 

 plants different from those found on Te Aroha Mountain except Celmisia 

 longifolia. 



I was so struck with the difference of the vegetation of Te Aroha Moun- 

 tain from that of the dividing range between the Thames and Tairua 

 Districts that I made an excursion to the high hills between Waihi and 

 Waitekauri, which are separated from Te Aroha Mountain by the Waihi 

 Plains, in order to discover where the rare plants on the Coromandel Eange 

 end. On the sides and summit of Te Paua I found Panax discolor and P. 

 anomalum, but not Archeria racemosa nor the other plants peculiar to the 

 main range. It appears evident that the true Coromandel Eange, of which 

 Whakairi, Kaitarakihi, and Pakerarahi are high peaks, does not even extend 

 to Waihi, but probably ends near Whangamata, at the head of the Tairua 

 River.* 



The plants that are found at Te Aroha and not found in the Thames 

 district, are Aristotelia fruticosa, Potentilla anserina, Myriophyllum robustum, 

 Myrtus ralphii, M. obcordata, M. pedunculata, Teucridium parviflorum, 

 Phyllocladus alpina, Elatostemma rugosum, Libocedrus bidwillii, Eleocharis 

 sphacelata, Cladium articulatum, Hymenophyllum pulcherrimum, H. malingii, 

 Todea superba, Ophioglossum lusitanicum. This list no doubt does not include 

 all those not found in the Thames District, but so far as it goes there is an 



* This statement has been verified by a recent visit to the head of the Tairua Eiver. 

 Here the main range rises into Mount Ngapuketurua, 2,275 feet in height, which is 

 clothed with the same vegetation as the other high mountains on the Coromandel Eange. 

 There is the same abundance of Panax discolor, Archeria racemosa, and Dacrydium inter' 

 medium. In fact, it is essentially a part of Whakairi from a botanical point of view. I 

 found Melicytus lanceolatus and Coprosma fcetidissima at a somewhat higher elevation 

 than the kauri forest, but not abundant. These two plants appear to spread vigorously 

 some years after the mountain forest has been partly cleared. It is worthy of remark 

 that the five high peaks — Mamaepuke, Whakairi, Eaitarakihi, Pakerarahi, and Ngapuke- 

 turua — have all immense kauri forests near the base of the respective mountains, and 

 that these forests extend on a moderately steep incline from the main range to the east 

 coast. 



