488 SUBANTARCTIC ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND. [Plant Formations. 



little of the ground on the island is firm; even on steep hillsides it is peaty and 

 soft. Probably the firmest ground is to be met with in some of the warmer valleys 

 on the north-eastern side of the island. Here the vegetation was found to be some- 

 what more luxuriant and further advanced than on the southern and western side 

 of the island ; however, it was unaltered as to its component species. The scrub 

 was more difficult of penetration than in other parts, and, being by myself, I was. 

 Unfortunately, unable to reach the beach there. 



The Littoral Vegetation. 



This was carefully examined on both sides of the upper part of Perseverance 

 Harbour. Here, unfortunately, however, the greatest changes have ensued from the 

 introduction of sheep and through the removal of the scrub, much of which in 

 the neighbourhood of the harbour has been cut down and burnt. One result of this 

 has been to cause some of the peaty soil on the southern side of the bay to slip towards 

 the sea. In this way certain littoral plants are being brought within the range of 

 action of the waves, and are thus being destroyed. This is particularly the case 

 with Veronica elliftica. I did not find this plant at all common on Campbell Island. 

 Some fine specimens were growing near the homestead, and there had been a belt of 

 it on the southern side of Perseverance Harbour ; but, owing to the slipping of the 

 peat, nearly all of these specimens had been brought down to high-water mark and 

 destroyed. It seems to be a disappearing species on Campbell Island. The coastal 

 vegetation was examined also at Monument Harbour. I noticed carefully the species 

 of Cotula to be found on the coastal rocks in both places, but did not observe C. lanata, 

 which Dr. Cockayne observed in North-east Bay. The two species found were 

 C "plumosa, which was growing plentifully in a little creek a few yards from high- 

 water mark on the western side of the home paddock, and C. fro'pinqua, which was 

 everywhere common on the rocks a few feet above high-water mark. Colohanthus 

 muscoides, Tillaea moschata, Montia fontana (on damp ground and in rain-pools), 

 and Scirpus aucMandicus appeared in similar situations. A little higher up the rock- 

 faces Sonchus asper, Stellaria decipiens, and Juncus sp. were also found in places near 

 the sea-shore. Ranunculus pinguis, too, is sometimes a coastal plant, but is also 

 found in rock-crevices at the mountain-tops. In the latter situation, as already 

 stated, it was flowering earlier and more luxuriantly than when growing near the 

 water's edge. Cardamine glacialis var. suhcarnosa, with white flowers, and white 

 flowers only, was occasionally found on the shingly beach. It also grew more luxu- 

 riantly in sheltered holes in the screes near the mountain-tops, and here its flower was 

 often pink. Poa foliosa, Poa ramosissima, and Hierochloe redolens were also found 

 on the coastal rocks. P. ramosissima was, however, not nearly so fully grown as I 

 saw it later on Enderby Island. Urtica australis occurred within a few feet of the 

 beach at our camp, and again at Otara Point, but, as it was also obtained from the 

 cliffs on one of the western hills (? Mount Paris) by the geological-survey party, it 

 is probably not to be included in the littoral species. 



The Coprosma Scrub. 



Distinct from the Dracophyllum scrub is the Coprosma scrub. This was seen 

 most fully developed on the north-eastern slopes of Mount Faye. It apparently 



