12 ? 
which are most eagerly gathered by numerous lovers of plants, 
and especially from the frequently scoured North Island, that I 
found some new species, — new, if not to science, at least 
upon New Zealand. They belong to genuine tropical forms, grow- 
ing in New Zealand only on the margin of hot springs, upon a 
warm soil and in a constantly hot-moist atmosphere. Dr. Hooker 1 
mentions f lie Lycopodium cernuum so frequent! y found everywhere 
about the hot springs in the interior of North Island, a species of 
general occurrence throughout all warm climates. Without the tro- 
pics, however, it is found only in the vicinity of hot springs heat- 
ing the soil, for example on the Azores, upon St. Paul’s Island 
in the South- Indian Ocean; a remarkable instance to prove how 
far the little spores of this ly copodium have been spread. To this 
I have the pleasure to add the Nephrolcpis tuberosa , Nephrodmm. 
nudum and Nephrodmm malic , tropical species, which are more or 
less general all over the torrid zone. These tropical species are found 
in the very heart of North Island near the hot waters of the Roto- 
mahana and near the boiling springs of Waikite at the foot of the 
Pairo® Range between Lake Taupo and the Rotomahana. There 
they thrive with luxuriant growth in a soil equally warmed by 
the hot water, and in a constant, unchanging, hot and moist at- 
mosphere. Their spores were most probably transported from the 
tropical countries of Australia or America to New Zealand. Other 
species, not tropical, such as Pt cris scabcrula , Pitlypofliwm rugulosum, 
( 1 1 clch enia dccarpa , are transformed in those [ilaces into very pecu- 
liar varieties. 
For the following remarks on the peculiarities of the New Zea- 
land flora let us refer to the ingenious explanations of Dr. Hooker 
in his Introductory Essay to the Flora of New Zealand. 
From the proportion of the number of cryptogames to that of 
phanerogames we first perceive that New Zealand is not only re- 
latively but also absolutely abounding in cryptogames. 2 It would 
1 Introd. Essay to the Flora of New Zealand. London 1853. p. 27. 
1 Great Britain , almost equal in size, for example numbers 1400 phanerogames 
and only 50 ferns to 114 upon New Zealand. 
