NATURALISTS' FIELD CLUB

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17942, 22 May 1920, Page 6

NATURALISTS' FIELD CLUB

On Saturday last 26 members of the -Fiolti Club walked over to tko uails lar tile purpose o£ studying tiio coastju vegetation. A iino afternoon added muoh to Lho enjoyment ol too walk irom Uueraiiam, and tuu magn.fioent view obtained iroin" the top of Uiu hiil was much admired. Probably tlio liist whit® man to croes these hihs in the vicinity of tho oliffs was Dr Siiortknd, who waited Otago in 1843. Landing irorn lus boat at Anderson's Bay, he crossed over, with his companions, to the Oo«in Beach, along which ho proceeded to what is now called St. Clair. The hills aboy« St. Clair wcro at that time oovered with thick bufili, and in surmounting'Forbury Head thft party lost their way, but eventually reached the beach on the other side of tho hill», now known as Green Island Beach. To a largo eoctent the bush has now disappeared!, bat enough, remains m the gullies to show Vvnat a dense and tangled natanw it one© was. What is lett of the bush oone;sta of broadleai, .ngaio, oabbaga trees, himhina, and fucheia, with a thick undorKronrth of ooprosmae, hymenanthera, otaaria, and various olimbers._ I'lax, lerns, t.nd vsronicas still growing in inaccesf&bio places on the edge of tho chtis show hovr their tops were once draped with vegetation, 'l'ho wind-swept headlands, which are subject to thowers of sea spray in rouga weather, and exposed to tho full force oi tile wind, have a plant covering of a type entirely different horn. that lotindi a short distance back from the cbifn. ~ In these exposed situations the plants all exhibit in a greater or lesser dftgroe th£t sucoulence of stem and leaf which tho world over eiiaracte rises plants that have to contend w.th a suplus of salt. Some of those gathered on Saturday laat were saliconfia, mesembryantheum, eoteiia, samoius, silleria. suaeda, otc. Tiiey were briefly commented on by the leader appointed for tho afternoon. 11m peculiar distribution of veronica, elliptica, the shore kornniko, .was especially men-

kionedi. It is found in South America-, the islands south, of New Zealand, til© West Ooast) of tho South Islandi, and on the cast coast as far north as Dunodin. I'urtJ*. north it is found on an island in Poloru.* Sound, at Wellington, and on tlie coast of Tarajuki, which is its northern limits In Nst7 Zealand. Tho general response of the vegetation to soil conditions was alao briefly 'explained, and also the effect of wind on the vegetation. These points' mil ba more fully explained! at the chub's next indoor ' meeting. Tlio sandstone cliffs, wliick extend from Forbury Head westwards, terminate at Blaok Head, which is of basaltic formation, and is a fine example of columnar gtructuio. The force of the attacks of tho sea on the cliffs is shown by tho numerous caves, some, of considerable taze, and tunnel, through which tho waves rush. Tins piece of coastline is considered by some to bo one of the finest pieces of coastal scenery in New Zealand. It was remarked on Saturdav that thrw plants whicli were at enr? tirrt? found on the cliffs are now either extremely ra.ro or nonexistent. These are myesotia antartica (a white forget-me-not), lomaria dura (a coastal fern), and onpsella procumbftns (a plant of the wallflower family). - Tho last-mentioned has a very limited range in New Zealand, and lias been reported only from Oamaru, Waikauaiti, and Dunedin. It was gathered cn tho cliffs .is late ag January last by a Cliristchurch botanist An amusing diversion was created during the afternoon by tie c.iphiro in a cave of a blue penguin, which had to submit to being photographed before being allowed to depart, which it promptly d d by diving into the breakers and making a pood offing before reappearing on tho surface.