Subalpine Forest. 211 
Coprosma linarüfolia and Carpodetus serratus are common, while Zidocedrus is 
absent. At goo m altitude, the last named appears and the small trees Olearia 
tlicifolia, Phyllocladus alpinus, Griselinia littoralis, Suttonia divaricata and Gaya 
Lyallii are common. There is a fairly thick undergrowth of subalpine species 
of Coprosma, Phyllocladus, Gaya and Veronica -salicifolia and, on the floor, 
extensive and close colonies of Polystichum vestitum. 
Eastern botanical. district. 
The highest peaks of Banks Peninsula doubtless originally carried a belt 
of kawaka-totara forest, for there are ample remains, while a small piece in 
its virgin state still exists on Mount Sinclair. Wernmannia racemosa, Metro- 
sideros lucida and other species are absent, but Cordyline indivisa, plentiful 
in Westland, but not occurring elsewhere E. of the Divide, is fairly common. 
3. Southern Rata (Metrosideros lucida) Association. 
Forest of this class is wide-spread in the Western district, it is montane 
rather than subalpine, but as mountain plants descend so low in that locality, 
it is here included with subalpine-forest. 
At aböve 450 m altitude in the Western district M7. lucida becomes domi- 
nant and the lowland taxads gradually decrease in numbers. Weinmannia 
racemosa is so plentiful in places as to dominate. Ouzntinia acutıfolia is,con- 
spicuous through its somewhat fastigiate habit as a sapling and the yellowish 
leaves blotched with purple but pale beneath. Many of the lowland shrubs 
and ferns are present. The undergrowth is dense, especially in gullies. Bry- 
ophytes (species of Gottschea, Schistochila, FRE Mniodendron, Plagiochila, 
Lembophyllum &c.) and Emmaihjlncear abound. Leptopteris superba forms 
extensive colonies. 
At the Franz Josef glacier, the terminal face of which descends to 213 m, 
the southern-rata association comes on to the ice-worn rocks at a few metres 
from the ice on either side of the glacier. The forest here, the roof of which 
has the characteristic billowy appearance, consists principally of the following: 
Metrosideros lucida and Weinmannia racemosa (the dominant canopy-trees), 
Carpodetus serratus, Coriaria ruscifolia, Aristotelia racemosa, Gaya Lyalli, 
Melicytus ramiflorus, Pseudopanax crassifolium, Schefflera digitata, Griselinia 
littoralis, Veronica salicifolia, Coprosma lucida, Olearia arborescens and O.avicenni- 
aefolia. The pteridophytes include ZZemitelia Smithai (tree-fern, but here of low sta- 
ture), several Yymenophyllaceae, Hypolepis tenuifolia, Histiopteris incısa, Blechnum 
“ capense, B. lanceolatum, Asplenium bulbiferum, A. flaccidum, Polystichum vesti- 
tum, Polypodium diversifolium, P. Billardieri and Lycopodium volubile. 
There is a southern-rata association at 600 m altitude on the exposed ridges 
on Mt. Peel, an outlyer of the southern Alps abutting on the Canterbury Plain; 
Metyosideros lucida is dominant. It is here about 9 m high and has a short trunk 
which ‚gives off erect trunk-like branches. Other species present are, — Lepto- 
Ä 
N 
spermum scoparium, Nothopanax simplex, ee longifolium, , 
