Buchanan. — Sketch of the Botany of Otago. 1S7 



spread, and the busli on the east is extensive enougli to have retained every 

 species from accidents of iire-denudation, if they ever existed there. Latitude 

 does not account either for the difference, as several of the species absent on 

 the east, range from the North Island to Eiverton on the Avest coast. 



The following plants of the western region will not be found on the cast 

 except a few isolated individuals, and those generally young plants : — 



Metrosider'os lucicla, Weinmannia raeejjiosa, Pittosporum rigidum, Panax 

 anomalum, P. lineare, P. arioraum, Olearia operina, O. colensoi, O. angusti- 

 folia, 0. cunningTiamii, 0. moscliata, 0. hectori, Plagiantlius lyallii, SopJiora 

 tetraptera var. micropliyllum, Senecio hifistulosus, S. rotundifolms, S. cassini- 

 oides, Archeria traversii, Sedycarya dentata, Ascarina lucida, Fagus fmca, F. 

 solandri, F. menziesii, Freycinetia hanJcsii, Cordyline indivisa. 



Many of the sub-alpine plants of this list are also found in the valleys, 

 such as Olearia moscliata and O. hectori, the latter attaining its maximum 

 of growth in the "Wyndham Yalley. Alpines could not be fairly represented 

 on the east, and are not included. If the eastern climate of Otago be not 

 adapted for the growth of so many species as the west, it seems to be the 

 best adapted of any portion of New Zealand for the full development of cer- 

 tain other species. 



The following species attain their maximum of growth on the east 

 of Otago : — 



Griselinia littoralis — trunks measuring from 4 to 8 feet in diameter, — 

 Melicytus ramiflorus, FucTisia excorticata, Panax crassifolium, P. colensoi, P. 

 edgerleyi, Pittosporum colensoi, P. eugenioides, Drionys colorata, Plagiantlius 

 hetulinus, PLolieria angicstifolia, Elcsocarpus lioolcerianus, Sopliora tetraptera 

 var. grandiflora, Pubus australis, Garpodetus serratus, Leptospermum ericoides 

 — old trees of this having been cut 4 feet in diameter, — Myrtus pedunculata, 

 Ooprosma rotimdifolia, O. linariifolia, Olearia nitida, 0. dentata, 0. ilicifolia, 

 0. avicennicefolia — these four last growing to timber trees 3 feet in diameter 

 near the ground, and generally branching into three or more branches 18 

 inches in diameter and 25 feet high, — Bracoplvyllum longifolium — attaining a 

 diameter of 18^ inches, — Myrsine torvillei, Veronica salicifolia, Veronica 

 elliptica, Libocedrus doniana — a tree was cut of this near Dunedin nearly 

 4 feet in diameter, — Cordyline australis— 2 to 4 feet dJ.2imQtQT,—GyatlieadeaJ- 

 lata, G. smithii, and Dicksonia antarctica. 



This comparison of maximum growth applies not only to the western 

 region of Otago, but to all New Zealand where these species are found. In 

 the smaller flowering plants this maximum of growth is not so easily 

 observed, but many of the Cryptogamia show both greater growth and 

 variety of species. Nowhere in New Zealand can so large a representation 

 of certain genera be found as on Mount Cargill, near Dunedin : as two 



