492 SUBANTARCTIC ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND. [Plant Formations. 



is, in any case, a much less abundant plant, and mostly confined to the tops of rocky 

 hills. Pleurophyllum criniferum is eaten down whenever found, and killed, and it is 

 rare to find a perfect plant wherever stock has been. Pleurophyllum speciosum is 

 also destroyed by them, but escapes to a greater extent than P. criniferum, as it is 

 often found on the inaccessible faces of moist banks and cliffs. Pleurophyllum 

 Hookeri, though eaten occasionally, is to a large extent unharmed by the sheep. 

 The tomentum of this plant is reported to cause stoppage of the bowels, and thus 

 to kill the animal. Bulhinella apparently escapes altogether, and hence one of the 

 reasons why it flourishes so exceedingly. 



There are now some eight thousand sheep on Campbell Island, and at least two- 

 thirds of its surface is open to them, so that the transformation and destruction of 

 the native vegetation noted by Dr. Cockayne* is going on at an increased rate of 

 speed, and soon the only portions of the island left in a virgin condition will be the 

 parts occupied by remnants of the scrub which sheep cannot penetrate, the tops 

 of rocky hills, and the faces of cliffs. 



Introduced Plants. 



A few words should be said about the introduced plants on the island. These 

 at present show but little sign of spreading, and are still very few in number. 



The following were noted on the beach near the homestead, at the edge of a little 

 watercourse : — 



(1.) Holcus lanatus, Linn., Sp. Plant., 1048. 

 (2.) Dactylis glomerata, Linn., Sp. Plant., 7L 

 (3.) Lolium perenne, Linn., Sp. Plant., 83. 

 (4.) Anthoxanthum odoratum, Linn., Sp. Plant., 28. 

 (5.) Phormium tenax, Forst., Char. Gen., 48. 

 (6.) Rumex acetosella, Linn., Sp. Plant., 338. 

 (7.) Trifolium repens, Linn., Sp. Plant., 767. 

 (8.) Cerastium sp. 



(9.) Stellaria media, Cyr., Char. Comm., 36. 

 (10.) Hypochaeris radicata, Linn., Sp. Plant., 810. 

 (11.) Calluna vulgaris, Salisb. 



The New Zealand flax and the ling (or heather) are garden-escapes, and are 

 growing close to the ruins of a hut said to have been once inhabited by a Scotch- 

 woman who is erroneously stated in local legend to have been a descendant of the 

 Young Pretender, Prince Charles. Both species have been there for many years, 

 but neither is spreading fast. The flax, indeed, seems to be just holding its own, 

 though the heather is apparently spreading slowly. It is perhaps as well to 

 point out that the New Zealand " flax is not indigenous to Campbell Island. The 

 New Zealand connection with Campbell Island may have been before the intro- 

 duction of Phormium on the mainland, which, as its presence on Norfolk Island 

 shows, may have come to us from the north. Such speculations; however, lie out- 

 side of the scope of this article. 



* " Botanical Excursion," Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xxxvi, p. 305. 



