Armstrong. — On the Flora of the Province of Canterbury. 329 



ful lancewood, Panax crassifolmm. The tipau or matipo, Pittosporum tenui- 

 folium, which makes the best ornameutal hedge I know of. The tarata or 

 lemonwood, Pittosporum eugenioides, a most beautiful tree also used for 

 hedges. The hohere, Hoheria angustifolia. The mako-mako, Aristotelia 

 racemosa. The mUk-tree, Epicarpurus microphyllus, which yields a peculiar 

 milky fluid from the inner bark. The hinau, EltBocarpus dentatus, from the 

 bark of which the Maoris obtained a fine dye. The pokako, Elceocarpus 

 hookerianus. The ake-ake, Olearia forsteri, and the cabbage trees, Cordyline 

 australis .? and C. indivisa ? The shrubby plants of the peninsula are ex- 

 ceedingly numerous, belonging to many varied genera ; prominent among 

 them are species of Coprosma, Piper, Drimys, Myrsine, Myoporum, Carpodetus, 

 Olearia, Veronica, Panax, Myrtus, etc. Several species and genera, which 

 are common in the North Island, are totally absent from Banks' Penmsula, 

 and of course from the rest of the province ; such are Geniostoma, Dysoxy- 

 Iwm, Hoheria populnea, Entelea, Atherosperma, Eugenia, Brachy glottis, Knightia, 

 Nesodaphne, Freycinetia, etc. The large North Island genus Metrosideros 

 has no arboreous representative in this district, though M. lucida is common 

 much farther south. 



Plants which attain their southern limit on the peninsula are the Nikau 

 palm, Areca sapida ; the karaka, Corynocarpus Imvigata, which is found in several 

 small bays at the eastern point of the peninsula. Several small and stunted 

 specimens of karaka formerly grew in Dampier's Bay, Lyttelton. Senecio 

 saxifragoides finds its southern limit here, and probably also Alectryon excel- 

 sum and Libocedrus doniana. I have not been able to ascertain that any 

 species finds its northern limit on Banks' Peninsula, but the following 

 plants appear to be confined to the district — Celviisia makaui and Pittosporum 

 obcordatum. 



Banks' Peninsula contains 350 species of flowering plants belonging to 

 171 genera. 



The Lowland or Middle District. — Under this name I include the great 

 Canterbury plain, together with the groups of downs at each end of the 

 province, and so much of the eastern face of the great Alpine range as lies 

 below 2000 feet. A reference to the map will show that the district, as here 

 defined, is a very extensive one, being about 150 miles long by 30 to 50 

 miles wide. 



The great Canterbury plain is remarkably poor in plants, and is very 

 uniform in character. Grasses form here the principal part of the vegeta- 

 tion, except in the numerous swampy places along the sea-coast, which 

 before the settlement of Europeans were covered with a dense growth of 

 Phormium tenax, Astelia grandis, and numerous species of Cyperacem, and 

 JuncecB. 36 



