ee 
MR 
Grassland. — "Rock. 169 
Reddish coloured tussocks of Danthonia Raoulii some 80 cm high stand so 
closely that, in many places, there seems tussock only. But, there are gen- 
erally spaces, large or small, between the tussock-colonies. In such there may 
be dark-coloured, entangled, shining masses of the wiry stems of Gaultheria 
perplexa. Phormium tenax is common in some places. Aszelia montana often 
makes considerable colonies. Other important members are: — Blechnum ‚benna- 
marina, Herpolirion novae-zelandiae (especially montane), Aciphylla squarrosa, 
Gaultheria depressa, Pentachondra pumila, Styphelia empetrifolia, Plantago 
Raoulit, Pratia angulata, Oreostylidium subulatum (especially montane), Zageno- 
phora petiolata, Celmisia longifolia var., Craspedia minor and Raoulia glabra. 
8. Rock. 
©... General. 
Rock-vegetation does not play nearly so important a part in the lowland- 
lower mountain belt as in that of the coast or the high mountains for it is absent 
over those wide areas, the coastal plains and northern, gumlands and is but little 
in evidence on many of the lower hills. By far its greatest development is in 
river gorges; near some ofthe large lakes and in the highest portions of the area, 
when the associations will be merely a continuation of those at a higher level. 
As elsewhere, rock offers most diverse ecological conditions for plant- 
colonization, but the various associations may be roughly grouped into those of 
dry and those of wet rocks. As for the chemical composition of the rock, 
that does not seem of much moment since :the same association can occur 
both on greywacke and limestone, though apparently a few vascular plants ‘) 
are confined to the latter. Certain species”) too are restricted to the volcanic 
rock of Banks Peninsula, but their presence cannot be explained with reference 
to the substratum. 
€ total number of species occurring on lowland-rock throughout is 
‚about 175, belonging to 43 families and 95 genera and consisting of, — trees 5, 
 shrubs 53, herbs 61, lianes 9, epiphytes 8, grass-like plants ı0, rush-like ı 
and ferns 28. Only 20 species are true rock- or semi-rock-plants, and of these, 
6 alone are confined to the lowland-lower mountain area. As for the other 
Species they are either forest-hygrophytes which occur on rock within the forest, 
Or in constantly. wet stations, or mesophytes or xerophytes belonging to ad- 
jacent formations, e. g. — Muehlenbeckia complexa, Coriaria ruscifolia, Lepto- 
Spermum scoparium, Styphelia acerosa, Veronica salicifolia and Helichrysum 
glomeratum, to cite a few. | 
d. Northern botanical province. 
The most important rock-plants are as follows: — Asplenium Faccıdüm 
‚ Polypodium diversifolium, Cyclophorus serpens, Blechnum capense,, Poa anceps. 
Asplenium Iucidum var. anomodon, Anisotome patula. = 
2) Veronica Lavaudiana, Senecio saxifragoides. _ 
