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Art. XXIV.— On the Vegetation of the 'neighbourhood of Ghristchv/rch, including 

 Riccarton, Dry Bash, etc. By J. F. Armstrong, Government Gardener. 



[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, December 2, 1868.] 



Introductory Remarks on the Distribution of Plants in the Province of 



Canterbury. By Julius Haast, Ph.D., F.K..S. 



Since the appearance of Dr. J. D. Hooker's excellent '•' Handbook of the ISTew 

 Zealand Flora," it has always been my wish to see the compilation of the 

 names of all the plants which grow in the neighbourhood of this city, 

 undertaken ; because I have often observed, that few persons, even those 

 acquainted with the rudiments of botany, know what plants really grow "wild 

 near Christchurch, and when they should look for them. Unfortunately my 

 own occupations have not allowed me time to prepare such lists, I there- 

 fore induced our member, Mr. J. F. Armstrong, to devote his leisure time 

 to do so, and there is no person here more competent to perform such an 

 arduous task. 



I may be here allowed to state, that for more than four years Mr. 

 Armstrong, and his son Mr. J.'B. Armstrong, have assisted me in collecting 

 our indigenous vegetation, for the herbarium of our Museum, and for making 

 exchanges ; and both have also given me great help in arranging the botanical 

 collections belonging to the province. In fact, whilst I was collecting and 

 investigating the alpine and sub-alpine Floi'a of Xew Zealand, my two 

 botanical assistants did the same work in the neighbourhood of Christchurch, 

 and contributed several complete sets of plants to the Museum, which, however, 

 like the great bulk of our botanical collections, have hitherto been inaccessible 

 to the public, for want of space to exhibit them in. 



The vegetation of the province of Canterbury, as formerly constituted, 

 may be divided into five main groups or zones, which again can be formed into 

 many sub-divisions. 



The five main zones are : — 



1. The Littoral zone, in which grow, generally, only plants which are 

 peculiar to the sea-shore, from high- water mark to 25 feet above it. 



2. Lowland zone. This comprises the lower portion of the Canterbury 

 Plains, of Banks' Peninsula, and of Westland. I propose for this group the 

 name of Pine zone. Altitude above sea-level, 25 to 800 feet. On Banks' 

 Peninsula, to 1200 feet. 



3. Mountain zone, formed by the vegetation, mostly Beech or Fagus, 

 which covers, where still existing, uniformly the sides of the mountains 

 bordering the Canterbury Plains, and the foot of the central ranges, both on 

 the east and west sides. It may appropriately be called the Beech zone. 

 Altitude from 800 to 4000 feet. In the interior of the Alps, it rises only to 

 2500 feet. 



4. Sub-alpine zone, formed by a great variety of shrubs, and a few stunted 

 trees. It ranges from 2500 to 4500 feet, and includes the lower portion of 

 the interior of the province, and the highest summits of Banks' Peninsula. 



I propose to call it the Dracophyllum zone, as this genus, belonging to the 

 Ericese or Heaths, is always well represented, and most conspicuous in the 

 regions referred to. 



5. Alpine zone, on the summits of the mountains bordering the Canter- 

 bury Plains, and on the sides of the alpine ranges, growing to the line of 

 perpetual snow, from 4000 to 7000 feet. 



It consists of herbaceous plants, often growing in dense, carpet-like 

 swards. I venture to call it the Raoulia zone, from that genus assuming such 

 conspicuous forms in those regions. 



There are, of course, many gradations from the one into the other, as all 



