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" The middle view is dependent on the green leaves of the young trees and tall shrubs which everywhere meet the eye and hide the trunks of the taller trees. The large leaves of the kanono (Coprosma grandifolia) are especially instrumental in this regard " So dense here are the slcndci branches as to make progress very difficult, while the black, rigid stems of the supplejack (/{hipot/onum scandens) spread in all directions and bar the way. Cyathea dealbata, with its spiralling fronds on short petioles, also adds to the entanglement. "The tree-tops, however, are quite distant, and the sky shows plainly through everywhere. Beilschmiedia tarairi is plainly dominant, and its trunk is frequently covered with mosses or encircled by the drooping shining fronds of Blechnum filiforme ■■ II i arr o i tin- top of a ridge. Here is a large tree of the rata (Metrosideros robusta), also the neinei (l)rarophyllum latifolium), Alseuosmia, and Coprosma grandifolia " Here Beilschmiedia tarairi is still the leading tree, and there is an occasional totara (Podocarpus totara) and miro (/'. ferrugimeus). More frequent are the kohekohe (Dysoxylum spectabile), the rewarewa (Knightia excelsa), and the rata (Metrosideros robusta). These are more or less clothed with various mosses and liverworts, but especially do Metrosideros scandens, M. Florida, Freycinetia Banksii, and Blechnum filiforme appear as lianes, the large pinnate leaves of the latter drooping and quite hiding the stems which it embraces. These also have, as epiphytes, Astelia Solandri and at times A. trinervia, Pvttosporum cornifolium, Griselinia lueida, Asplenium adiantiforme, Dendrobium Cunninghamii, Asplenium flaccid urn, and Lycopodium Billardieri (Photo 6). The Metrosideros scandens gives a green colour to the flunks when in its early stage its dorsivetitral shoots are attached closely to the balk and make a mosaic, but finally its thick stems are pressed against them as woody ropes. The broad translucent fronds of HymenophyUum dilatatum, (a foot or so in length), and the kidney fern (Trichomanes reni forme), dark-green when old but almost emerald-green when young, play'likewise a most conspicuous part, both as lianes, or perhaps epiphytes, and as mantles for fallen trees. " As for the second tier of vegetation, young trees with steins unbranched for at least their lower two-thirds and of considerable stature, together xvith palms and tree-ferns, especially Cyathea dealbata, everywhere play the principal part. Cyathea medullaris is also present, sometimes in abundance, its black leaf-stalks rendering it conspicuous. The greater number of these young tiees consist of Beilschmiedia tarairi, but at times in equal abundance is Dysoxylum spectabile, while the juvenile form of Knightia excelsa, with its long and narrow leaves, so different from those of the adult, is also frequent. In some places the rather dulfgreen Coprosma grandifolia is dominant, or nearly so. The principal of the smaller shrubs are Senecio Kirkii and Alseuosmia macrophylla, which are everywhere, as are the seedlings of the former. Freycinetia grows in tufts, straggling, as it so frequently does, on the ground, or climbs the trees, quite hiding the trunks with its dark-green swoid-like leaves. fveu when its supporl is mine it still keeps its position as an erect plant, thanks to the rigidity of its thick stem. Lygodium also, climbing from the ground, where it is frequently prostrate, winds round itself and binds together the branches of the, smaller trees and shrubs, while these are also encircled by Bhipogonum scandens. " On the ground, where dry, is a close covering of the delicate fronds of HymenophyUum demissum, extending over many square yards, or in some places Trichomanes reniforme, the latter especially on dead, fallen trees, and the for ron the driest ground and on roots raised above the ground-surface, where it is mixed with mosses. Large colonies of Blechnum Frazeri are everywhere, hut the juvenile form only, sometimes to the exclusion of other ground-vegetation. On the floor also are various mosses and liverworts, in addition to the above-named filmy ferns, and at times a good deal of Metrosideros hypericifolia, while here, as in most parts of the forest, lie the dead brown leaves of the tarairi. Seedlings, too, of all the forest-plants abound, especially Knightia, Podocarpus ferrugineus, P. dacrydioides, Beilschmiedia tarairi, and Senecio Kirkii "Further on, the tarairi forest becomes still more open. This particular part is quite remarkable for the multitudes of quite straight saplings of Dysoxylum, 15 ft. to 20 ft. tall. Hardly branched, and but little leafy, they form almost the entire undergrowth, and offer no obstacle to progress. Ido not know what can be the ultimate fate of such young trees as these. Most will die by degrees, I suppose; some will probably be strangled by lianes; but at any rate a comparatively few years ought to show some great change in such a formation. At present there is here a distinct young forest growing beneath an older one of the same species. On the ground there is little but the brown dead loaves. Stone crops out everywhere, and on it is some Blechnum filiforme and Metrosideros hyperici folia. On the earth is some Freycinetia, a little Asplenium bulbiferum, and colonies of HymenophyUum demissum. As for the general physiognomy, multitudes of slender grey steins chiefly meet the eye, while in the middle distance are the bright-green leaves of the saplings " At the north-west corner of the reserve, on the slope descending to the Wairau, a creek was crossed, almost dry and full of large stones, which were more or leu moss and fern covered with Poly podium Dictyopteris and HymenophyUum dilatatum. Tn the bed of the stream were noted Macropiper excelsum, Carmichaelia australis G ft. tall, Bhopalostylis sapida, and very large AspIrniiim lucidum. Probably there were other seed-plants and ferns and notably seedlings. The dominant tree is, as usual, Beilschmiedia tarairi, and palms are extremely numerous. Large rocks jut everywhere out of the ground, which there is for the most pari bare but with tufts of Freycinetia, plenty of Blechnum filiforme, and many fallen tarairi leaves. Coprosma arborea is abundant, xvith slender stems, branching at a righl angle, and abundant brownish leaves, also Dysoxylum with long stems, Beihchmiedin tarairi, and Knightia. Young Weinmannia sylvicola and Brachyglottis repanda are common, and the comparatively dry nature of the ground is testified to by the presence of Adiantum fulvum. Other plants of this portion arc juvenile miro, Fusanus Cunninghamii, young Olea montana, plenty of Uncinia australis, some I'teris romans,