332 Transactions. — Botany. 



Cryptogams are very numerous both iii this zone and the last, but are 

 chiefly composed of Musci, Lichenes, and Fungi ; Filices being represented 

 by a very few species, chiefly of the genera Hymenophyllum, Lomaria, and 

 Polystichum. 



The Fourth Zone, that of perpetual snow, yields a few species of Lichenes 

 and Alg(B, but no flowering plants. The tree-ferns, which form such a 

 prominent feature in most parts of the colony, are entirely absent from the 

 Alps of Canterbury. 



The neareet approach to the arboreal form in a fern occurs in Polystichum 

 nonindusiatiitn, which frequently forms curious masses of root-fibres three 

 or four feet high, and as much in diameter. Some of the Hymenophylle^B 

 seem to be capable of enduring intense cold, for I have gathered H. villosum 

 and H. muUifidum on boulders embedded in a glacier. 



The Alpine district cannot be said to have been even moderately well 

 explored, and no doubt it contains many plants as yet unknown to science. 

 It is to be hoped that some one will be able to explore these wonderful 

 mountains in a more thorough manner than has ever yet been done, and 

 the result will no doubt be highly satisfactory. 



My catalogue gives the names of 496 species of flowering plants from 

 the Alpine district, belonging to 164 genera. 



The Forage Plants of Canterbury. — The forage plants of the province 

 are numerous and important. They have contributed more than is generally 

 admitted to bring abou.t the present advanced state of settlement. Of these 

 forage plants, those belonging to the Graminece or grasses are, of course, 

 the most important. The grasses of Canterbury number about fifty species 

 of varied relationship and various habit. Many of them are fully equal, 

 as pasture, to any of the imported kinds, and will, I believe, be generally 

 cultivated when their value becomes better understood by the farmers of 

 the province. 



The most nutritive grasses as far as I have been able to ascertain are 

 the various species of Danthonia, Microlcsna avenacea, and Poa foliosa ; but 

 these are not, however, the best adapted for cultivation, owing to their 

 general coarseness of habit, and liability to die out. The best native 

 grasses for general farm purposes are in my opinion the following, which 

 fully deserve a trial from all farmers anxious to improve the productiveness 

 of their pastures : — The rice grass, Microlana stipoides. The long-awned 

 plume grass, Dichelachne crinita. The brown bent, Agrostis canina, var. 

 The Mount Cook bent, Agrostis youngii. The dwarf ring-grass, Danthonia 

 semi-annularis. The blue wheat-grass, Triticum squarrosum. The short- 

 flowered meadow-grass, Poa breviglumis. The leafy meadow-grass, Poa 

 foliosa. The mountain tussock-grass, Poa intermedia. The native oat- 



