180 
Floristik, Geographie, Systematik etc. 
siognomic importance, the majority of which show weil-marked 
xerophytic adaptations. The deserts are edaphic rather than climatic, 
and are regarded as an early phase in the development of the Vege¬ 
tation. The earliest plant-covering consists of widely scattered 
clumps of Veronica spathulata, Claytonia anstralasica, Gentiana bei - 
lidifolia , and Lumda Colensoi ; cushions of Raoulia australis, and 
tussocks of Danthonia occur on flatter slopes; there are excellent 
photographs of these species. Where the distintegrated material 
drilts together, small dunes are formed with Pimelea laevigata, 
Podocarpus nivalis, Dacrydium taxifolium, Veronica tetragona, etc. 
“The dunes or islands of shrubby and herbaceous plants of the 
desert are embryonic patches of shrub-steppe”. Where lava-flows or 
other rocks occur, lichens and mosses are the first soil-formers, and 
desert-plants secure a place in the crevices. The Grass-steppe is 
widely distributed and is made up of tussocks, mainly of Danthonia 
Raoulii , but many other species find a place between the tussocks. 
The Shrub-steppe is a transitional phase between desert and grass 
on the one hand or subalpine scrub and forest on the other. It is made 
up principally of Epacvidaceae (Dracophyllum spp., Styphelia Frazeri, 
etc.), Taxaceae (Dacrydium spp., etc.), Compositae, Scrophulariaceae 
and the fern Gleichenia dicarpa. The formation is an open one, and 
consists of raised mounds of shrubs with intervening bare ground 
or fragments of desert Vegetation. The subalpine scrub occurs be¬ 
tween the upper Nothofagus forest and the steppe, and is regarded 
as an advanced phase of shrub-steppe with much the same species 
present but forming a closed formation; Phyllocladus alpinus is 
dominant in some parts. 
Streams, Bogs and Wet Ground. Under this heading are 
included all forms of Vegetation oecurring in wet places, some of 
which are moist at all times of the year, others are „winter-bogs” 
only. The species are varied, ranging from Potamogeton spp., Dro¬ 
sera spp. and Utricularia spp. to xerophytes such as Aciphylla 
squarrosa and Oreobolus pectinatus, plants of the desert and steppe. 
The total number of species recorded for the Tongariro Park 
is 222 spermophytes and 38 ferns; these are recorded in a list 
(p. 34—40) with the Maori name, and the distribution of each. An 
analysis shows that all the species occur on the older neighbouring 
land-surfaces round the Park. The destruction of Vegetation through 
volcanic agency has been local, and the history of the Vegetation 
is briefly: “In all cases it would be merely a repopulating of new 
“ground from an adjacent fully populated area, and the species of 
“the one would be the species of the other, though fewer in num- 
“ber on the more xerophytic new ground.” “The plant covering as 
“it now exists is regulated by altitude, the nature of the soil, and 
“the age of the surface.” 
A short summary of the fauna of the Park is also given, and a 
bibliography completes the memoir. W. G. Smith. 
Cockayne, L., A Botanical Survey of the Waipoua Kauri 
[Agathis] Forest. (Report to the Department of Lands, New Zea- 
land; Wellington i908, 44 pp. fol., 20 plates and 1 map. Price 1/—.) 
Waipoua has been constituted a forest reserve by the New 
Zealand government; its future fate appears somewhat uncertain 
and botanists will Support Dr. Cockayne who throughout this memoir 
pleads hard for its preservation. “The Waipoua Forest and one or 
