BOTANICAL DISCOVERY. XXX] 
peninsula in 1868, of the Thames goldfields in 1869, of the Waikato district 
in 1870, and of the Rotorua and Taupo districts in 1872. Among the 
numerous species added to the flora by these journeys are the following: 
Pittosporum Kirk, Pseudopanar discolor, Coprosma arborea, Olearia 
Allomu, Dacrydium Kirku, Phyllocladus glauca, and Isoetes Kirkw. In 1874 
Mr. Kirk removed to Wellington, occupying firstly the position of Lecturer 
on Natural Science at Wellington College, and at a later date that of Chief 
Conservator of State Forests. In the performance of the duties of the latter 
office he travelled through the greater part of both the North and South 
Islands, and these journeys were always employed to the furtherance of 
botanical science. After his retirement from the State Forests Depart- 
ment he made a lengthened exploration of Stewart Island, detecting several 
novelties, among them the superb Olearia Trailla. In 1890 he paid a visit 
to the Auckland and Campbell Islands, adding several species to their flora. 
During the same voyage he landed on The Snares and Antipodes Islands, 
the vegetation of which was previously quite unknown. The results of 
this expedition were embodied in a memoir printed in the Report of the 
Australasian Association for 1891. Mr. Kirk was a voluminous writer, and 
bis contributions to New Zealand botany, mostly printed in the “ Trans- 
actions of the New Zealand Institute,” number nearly a hundred and fifty. 
His most important completed work is “ The Forest Flora of New Zealand,” 
issued in 1889. Its primarv object was to diffuse a knowledge of the forest 
resources of the colony and to describe the chief methods of timber working 
and conversion. It contains much information on the economic value and 
uses of the New Zealand timbers, together with descriptions of the species, 
and is illustrated with 150 plates. In 1894 he was commissioned by the 
New Zealand Government to prepare a Flora of the colony, a work for which 
he had long been collecting material, and for which his wide personal know- 
ledge of the vegetation of the country gave him exceptional qualifications. 
He entered upon the work with characteristic energy and ardour; but, 
unfortunately, his health gradually failed, and after several serious illnesses 
he died in March, 1897. That portion of his work which was in a sufficiently 
complete state at the time of his death, comprising the Polypetalae, and the 
Monopetalae as far as the Compositae, was issued from the Government 
Printing Press in 1899. Although printed without the advantage of the 
author’s supervision, and without the introductory and supplementary 
matter usually given in such publications, it shows very clearly the loss 
which botanical science has suffered through his decease, and all students 
will regret that he did not live to complete the work for which he had made 
so many preparations. 
I do not propose to say anything in regard to my own researches into 
the flora, beyond stating that they have extended continuously from the 
year 1870 to the present time, and include an examination of almcst the 
whole colony, from the Kermadec Islands and the North Cape to Otago. 
A list of my papers on botanical subjects will be found in Mr. Hamilton’s 
Bibliography, printed in vol. xxxvi of the “ Transactions of the New Zealand 
Institute” (pp. 342-72). 
In the years 1874 and 1875 De Sven Berggren, of the University of Lund, 
Sweden, made an extended visit to New Zealand, travelling through 
the greater portion of both Islands, and making large collections, especially 
of cryptogams. The new species of flowering-plants were described and 
beautifully illustrated in a memoir published in 1877 in the “ Proceedings of 
the University of Lund.’ The Algae have been worked out py Dr. Nordstedt 
