Preface. 
arly in the year 1904 I had the honour to receive a letter from Prof. Dr. 
A. ENGLER inviting me to contribute to the comprehensive “Vegetation 
der Erde” a volume written in English dealing with the plant-geography of 
New Zealand. At the same time Prof. ENGLER sent me a synopsis of the 
proposed work, which he had prepared, and on that, with certgin modifications, 
this book is base 
At that time many wide areas in New Zealand were botanically unexplored, 
and a great part of the remainder was imperfectly known, consequently it was 
essential for me to acquire a first-hand knowledge of at least typical examples 
of the vegetation of each botanical district. This preliminary work was steadily 
carried on year by year, but it was not completed until June, 1913, at which 
period the actual writing of the book was begun. By the end of March, 1914, the 
work was completed, and soon afterwards the manuscript was forwarded to Berlin. 
It is no easy matter, even when in close touch with the publisher, to see 
a scientific work through the pres. How much then are the difficulties in- 
creased when half the circumference of the Globe separates publisher and 
author. Nor are these difficulties lessened when the copy for the printer to 
deal with is in a foreign tongue. But consider the infinitely greater difficulties 
which arose through the long years of the gigantic world-struggle and the 
subsequent time of reconstruction! 
Much of the book only came into my hands in the form of paged proofs, 
so little more than verbal corrections could be made. Fortunately this was: 
not the case from page 209 onwards, for of this portion galley proofs were 
available. These reached me in June, 1920, rather more than six. years after 
the manuscript had left New Zealand, and, thanks to the publisher, I was 
permitted to make certain important alterations designed to bring the latter 
part of the work up to the present-day state of knowledge of the vegetation 
and flora of New Zealand. Not that the other part of the book is greatly 
deficient in this respect, since much of the theme is the frzmitive plant-covering. 
With regard to the classification of the vegetation, with some modifications 
Warming’s system of ı909 is followed. But the system adopted for such a 
book as this is not of great moment, since, above all else, the aim should 
be to present as vivid and accurate a picture as possible of the actual vege- 
tation of the country. This surely is the first step in a plant-geographical 
description of any country. it is the more necessary in a region, such 
as New Zealand, possessing a truly virgin vegetation which is rapidly Bere“ = 
ming modified, or even destroyed. = 
As for the biology of the plants the somewhat novel method is adopted _ 
of giving ee statistics be the of er: species er “ n 
