KiBK. — Oil the Lake District of the North Island. 327 



The Pukeroa stream contained exactly the same plants already mentioned as 

 having been collected in the Ohura. Elatine americana, with various uliginal 

 plants, fringed its banks. One or two small patches of kahikatea form the 

 only timber on the low lands. 



The summit of Ngongotaha and the adjacent hills is clothed with luxuriant 

 forest, the margins of which have been from time to time cleared by the 

 natives for their scanty cultivations. The chief trees are the rimu, rata 

 (Ifetrosideros rohusta, Sm.), tawa, rewa-rewa, mangiao, and pukatea ; the 

 puka-puka {Brachyglottis repanda., Forst.) and Coprosnia grandifolia are 

 abundant, and especially Alseuosmia rrmcrophylla, which forms the densest of 

 the undergrowth down to 1,700 feet. Senecio glastifolius and Drimys axillaris 

 are comparatively rare. Griselinia lucida and Pittosporum cornifoliunfi occur as 

 epiphytes with. Astelia solandri and A. cunninghamii. Cyathea rtiedullaris, 

 C. dealbata, and He7)iitelia smithii are frequent, and a few noble specimens 

 of Dicksonia antarctica occur near tlie summit, but as a rule the paucity 

 of species extends to ferns, no less than to phsenogamic plants. 



The open country towards the north end of the lake presents still fewer 

 plants of interest j Dracophyllum suhulatum, Hook, f., the most characteristic 

 plant of the Taupo plains, attains here its northern limit. Near the point 

 where the road to Tauranga crosses the Kotukuroa creek, two or three bushes 

 of a large-leaved Pittosporum, four to six feet high, were observed with 

 immature fruit. In the absence of flowers, I identified the plant with 

 P. tenuifoliuvi, var. fasciculatuni, although the peduncles are erect. Lyco- 

 podium QnagellaniGuni, which attains its extreme northern boundary a few 

 miles nearer Tauranga, was plentiful ', when growing luxuriously, as in the 

 present instance, it is a far more graceful plant than its European represen- 

 tative L. clavatum, L., and presents a totally difierent appearance to the 

 stunted condition common on high open lands. L. scariosum covered the 

 rocks with its long pendent stems, the bright yellow spikes harmonizing well 

 with the deep green leaves. Gaultlieria oppositifolia, Hook, f , was plentiful 

 in one spot, although the specimens had a stunted appearance \ with Craspedia 

 Jimhriata, DC, it attains its northern limit in this habitat. 



The forest on this side presented few plants of interest when compared 

 with the forests of the northern part of the province, and was remarkable from 

 the absence of kauri, tarairi, and puriri. The hinau^ rata, (Metrosideros 

 rohusfa, Sm.) matai, miro, tawa, mangiao, and rewa-rewa are abundant. 

 Weinma7inia racemosa, Santalum cunninghamii, and Ixerha brexioides are 

 much less frequent, but I have reason to believe that on the Tauranga side 

 the number of species is much larger. 



To return to the lake, on the north side I was surprised to find on the 

 beach the littoral plants Promus arenarius, Lab., Car ex />?<wii7a, Th., Scirpus 



