90 



In the neighbourhood of Shortland and Graham stown, the hills are 

 usually much broken and precipitous, and attain their greatest height, 2300 feet, 

 near the head of the Kawaeranga creek : the beds of the different creeks are 

 frequently mere ravines, the sides of which are thickly clothed with mosses, 

 various species of Gottschea and Plagiochila : P. Stephensoniana, Mitten, attaining 

 unusual luxiiriance ; in less moist places a rare moss, Mielichoferia tenuiseta, 

 Mitten, covers the surface and forms a suitable medium for the growth of 

 various species of Corysanthes, especially C. rivularis, Hook, f, and rocks and 

 trees alike are clothed with a rich covering of various ferns, more especially 

 Hymenophyllwm dilatatum, Swartz., IT. scabrum, A. Rich., H. eeruginosum, 

 Carm., and Trichomanes reniforme, Menz. The slopes of the hills are usually 

 covered with a dense forest of timber trees, and undergrowth, the forms being 

 chiefly the Hinau (Elceocarpus dentatus, Hook.), Toro (Persoonia Toro, A. Cunn.), 

 Tawa (Nesodaphne Tawa, Hook, f), Beech, or Black Birch (Fagus fusca, 

 Hook, f), Kauri (Dammara australis, Lamb.), Miro (Podocarpus ferruginea, 

 Don.), Totara (Podocarpus Totara, A. Cunn.), Rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum, 

 Soland.), etc., with Alseuosmia macrophytta, A. Cunn., Schefflera digitata, 

 Forst., Coprosma grandifolia, Hook, f, Senecio glastifolius, Hook, f., and 

 immense tussocks of an undescribed Astelia, and cutting grasses (Gahnia lacera, 

 Stend., G. arenaria, Hook, f.) : the Supplejack (Phipogonum scandens, Forst.), 

 and Mange-mange (Lygodium articulatum, Swartz.), are so mixed with the 

 undergrowth as to render all progress tedious and laborious in the extreme. 



A remarkable feature, in some parts of the district, is the social character 

 of the arborescent ferns, more especially of the M.&nn&k\i(Cyathea medullar is, 

 Swartz.), and the Weki (Dicksonia squarrosa, Swartz.), which occasionally 

 form groves of small extent ; the Ponga Flat, a comparatively level piece 

 of land at an altitude of about 1650 feet, owes its name to the large grove of 

 Black Tree-ferns with which it was formerly covered. A few specimens have 

 been spared and are cai*efully protected by the miners. 



North of the Tararu creek, the hills next the sea are of lower elevation, 

 and more rounded in outline, their slopes being chiefly covered with a varying 

 gi'owth of Pteris esculenta, Forst., Leptospermum scopariun, Forst., Pomaderris 

 phylicifolia, Locld., Dracophyllum squarrosum, Hook., f., Coriaria ruscifolia, L., 

 Epacris pauciflora, A. Rich. , and a few straggling grasses, varied by occasional 

 patches of forest. The tributary streams are choked with a close growth of 

 Typha, Schcenus, Cladium, Carex, and other marsh-loving plants. But a few 

 miles inland these ericetal and uliginal plants disappear, the streams become 

 narrowed and impetuous, the hills steeper and higher, clothed everywhere with 

 a dense bush, often nearly impassable from the abundance of Mange-mange, 

 which binds trees and undergrowth together in an almost impenetrable mass. 

 The highest peaks of Mount Wynyard, 2690 feet, are approached by 

 connecting wall-like ridges, often not sufficiently wide to admit of two persons 

 walking abreast, and covered with tussocks of Astelia, Gahnia, and various 

 shrubs. * 



About the height of 1800 feet a change is usually observable in the 

 character of the vegetation ; in broken rocky places there is a profusion of 

 mosses and lichens, chiefly belonging to genera Racomitrium, Dicranum, and 

 Claclonia, with a varying shrubby growth of Weinmannia, Leptospermum, 

 Pittosporum, Coprosma, Phebalium, Quintinia, and many ferns. On more 

 even ground Weinmannia silvicola, Banks and Sol., and Metrosideros lucida, attain 



* One of these ridges is conxpletely blocked by an immense Rata, Metrosideros robusta, 

 A. Cunn. , the trunk of which overhangs both edges of the mural precipice, and can only 

 be passed by the aid of the friendly climbers, and the tussocks of Astelia which partially 

 cover its base. 



