236 
Floristik, Geographie, Systematik etc. 
Cockayne, L., A Botanical Survey of Kapiti Island. (New 
Zealand). (Report presented to both Houses of the General 
Assembly, N. Z. May 1907.) 
Kapiti is one of three Coastal islands which the New Zealand 
Government has resolved to preserve as sanctuaries for plants and 
animals. The islands are Little Barrier Island in Huaraki Gulf, 
Resolution Island off the West coast, and Kapiti in Cock Strait. 
Each contains plants and animals representative of different parts of 
New Zealand. Kapiti has affinities with North Island on the one 
hand and South Island on the other. The author was deputed to 
investigate the Vegetation, and this report is a preliminary paper 
on his observations. Kapiti is about 6 miles long and about 1 mile 
wide; it is a high ridge, the Western side, which is a great precipice, 
attaining in plac.es a height of 530 metres. The eastern side is deeply 
cleft by steep narrow valleys, but it is sheltered from the strong 
westerly winds, and is covered with forest. The greater part of the 
island is rocky, and where soil is formed it is poor in humus. The 
Principal climatic factors are frequent strong winds, many days with 
rain, and a mild winter. The Vegetation is not quite primitive, for 
sheep-farming has been carried on about 50 years, while goats and 
cattle introduced originally are now wild. These animals and the 
Settlements of man have destroyed the forest in places and have 
favoured the development of grassland; much of the forest is how- 
ever regarded by the author as nearly primitive. The greater part 
of the memoir is descriptive of the plant-formations, and the author’s 
names for these are used in the following. 
The Forest is the most important formation and occupies the 
long slopes and steep valleys of the eastern side which are protected 
from the strong westerly winds by the height of the Western side. 
Though only a small proportion of the taller trees attain a height 
of 30 M., and the forest is usualty low (sometimes almost scrub), 
yet the author regards it as true forest. From a distance the forest 
is seen to be made up of masses of trees which differ in tint of 
green and form of canopy: the dark rounded parts consist mainly 
of Corynocarpus laevigata, the pale yellowish-green flatter masses 
are Melicytus ramißorus , the bright pale-green of the forest margin 
is Myoporum Icietum , and the large areas of uniform dull darkish- 
grey is Leptospevmum scoparium; in October there are also white 
masses of flowers of Olearia cunninghamia. Beilschmiedia tawa and 
Metvosidevos robusta are importent trees in the higher parts of the 
forest and in the shady valleys. Tree-ferns ( Cyathea , etc.) are abundant 
in some places. Lianes are an important biological group (. Metvosidevos 
spp., Lomaria filiformis, etc.), and clothe the tree-trunks. Cryptogamic 
epiphytes are also abundant; the only spermaphytic parasite is 
Tupeia antarctica. The forest floor is frequently quite bare, but 
occasionally there is a close ground-vegetation which includes many 
ferns. The forest at higher altitudes is distinguished from the Coastal 
and intermediate zones by a more luxuriant undergrowth of ferns, 
liverworts and mosses, the climate there being evidently moister. 
Descriptions are given of the life-forms of the characteristic plants, 
and these taken along with the climatic ecological factors lead the 
author to regard the Kapiti forest as a rain-forest modified by 
wind, as is so frequently the case in New Zealand. Edaphic con- 
ditions and the kind of canopy determine the aggregation of species 
within the forest. As regards ecological features, most of the trees 
and shrubs are evergreens of low stature and with slender stems; 
