﻿254 Transactions. — Botany. " 



The littoral section of the Flora differs from that of Britain in the presence 

 of several peculiar plants. In the north, the pohutiikawa {^Metrosideros 

 tomentosa), sixty feet high, with gnarled, distorted branches, laden from base 

 to summit with deep crimson flowers, is often found with its trunk washed by 

 the sea ; the mangrove (Avicenrda officinalis) covers mud-flats exposed at low- 

 water, and often attains thirty feet in height ; its creeping roots and innu- 

 merable suckers present a singular feature. Other trees prefer a littoral 

 habitat, as the pan {Sapota costata), which has a similarly restricted range to 

 the above, and others. The ngaio is abundant all round the coast, and is also 

 found inland. A glossy leaved karamu {Co'pros'ma Baueriana), and one or two 

 shrubby veronicas and composites, also affect a littoral habitat. The arenarian 

 plants are singularly iiniform on all the coasts. The pingao {jDesmochcenus 

 spiralis) with its interrupted spike, Spinifex Jiirsutus, and Festuca littoralis, 

 are confined to loose or shifting sand, and to some extent take the place of 

 the marrem and sand-sedge of Britain, but present a singular appearance. 

 Two other plants of opposite habit give a peculiar character to sandhills and 

 beaches — Coj^rosma acerosa, with its tortuous wiry brown stems and acicular 

 leaves, and the erect Fimelea arenaria covered with white silky hairs. Con- 

 volvolus Soldanella^ and several other littoral plants, are common to both 

 countries. The New Zealand spinach {Tetragonia expaotsa) and a large marsh- 

 samphire (Salicornia indica) are abundant in salt marshes. Except a laige 

 asteliad (Astelia Banksii), common on the cliffs, there are but few other forms 

 of special importance. Zoysia pungens, a littoral grass, is one of the few 

 New Zealand kinds which form a compact turf. 



So little precise knowledge has at present been collected with regard to the 

 altitudinal range of New Zealand plants, especially of their lower limits, that I 

 am only able to point out some of the more remai'kable alpine forms, without 

 reference to climatal conditions. Dr. Hector has stated the general features of 

 their distribution in an essay appended to the first volume of the Transactions 

 of the New Zealand Institute. I may, however, remark that no mountain in 

 Britain exceeds the altitude of 4,330 feet, the mean temperature of which is 

 computed by Watson at 36'6 deg. Fahr. Not more than twenty-five species are 

 found in Britain at a greater altitude than 4,000 feet. It is probable that 

 one-eighth, or possibly one-seventh, of the New Zealand Phsenogams and Ferns 

 occur between 4,000 and 9,000 feet of altitxxde, although the number of species 

 restricted to these limits would be much smaller. The comparative paucity 

 of ferns at these altitudes contrasts forcibly with their abundance at lower 

 ranges. 



Conspicuous amongst the sub-alpine plants are the magnificent Ranunculi, 

 R. Lyallii, and R. Traversii — the " water lilies " of the shepherds. Mr. Potts 

 informs me the peltate leaves of the former are sometimes two feet in diameter ; 



