a—l 4

16

Cyathea dealbata. The surface of the ground is quite uneven owing in part to low, creeping roots, and in greater measure to stones and fallen logs, all of which being moss- and fern-covered affect the physiognomy of the forest. Metrosideros hyperici folia also, as so frequently elsewhere, creeps over the ground. As for the crowns of the trees, these do not touch, and the upper covering is thus quite open. The trees here, as listed, are Dacrydium cupressinum here and there, Beilschmiedia tawa, II einmannia sylvicola, and also Rhipogonum, young Laure/ia, and an occasional Styphelia fasciculata. llymenophyllum dilatatum hangs from trees, &c, as usual, and there are plenty of mosses. A pale-green filiform liverwort is at times conspicuous, and there are plenty of the tall leafy forms. Astelia Solandri is plentiful in the trees, and it is also frequent on fallen logs. Where most open there is Microlcena in abundance, and then only young trees— e.g., Weinmannia, Suttonia salicina, and Blechnum Frazeri and Freycinetia. In such open spaces the latter, man-high, may exclude all else. Also here and there is almost an open sky Another natural opening has Freycinetia dominant in some places and Micro/ana in others, and there are shrubs and small trees, Ac. e.g., Weinmannia, Bvi/svh micd/'a taira, Dicksonia squarrosa. Podocarpus ferrui/ineus, Rapanea salicina, Dracophyllum latifolium, Freycinetia, Blechnum Frazeri, Lygodium, Metrosideros florida on the ground, and Styphelia. The adjacent forest contains a good deal of Dacrydium cupressinum and Metrosideros robusta. but their boughs do not meet 5. Associations of Wet Ground and Swamps. (Photo 15.) (a.) General Remarks. Wherever the drainage is defective the ground remains permanently xvet, xvhile in no fewcases pools of water lie on the surface. Such places, it can be well understood, support a special plant population, the leading members of which, if not absolutely confined to such ground, exist there in greater luxuriance and numbers than elsewhere. Gullies and river-flats also are frequently much wetter than the average forest, and here, too, certain plants, rar ■ absent else where, occur. The following are the principal swamp or wet-ground species, some of which, however, as max be seen from what has gone before, are quite common in the ordinary forest: Filices : Blechnum capense, Dryopteris pennigera, Dicksonia squarrosa. Taxaceas : Podocarpus dacrydioides. Pandanaceae : Freycinetia Banksii. frticacie: Flata.-ti mma rugosum. Monimiaoess: Laurelia nova-zelandict. Rosacea- : Bubus svhmidelloides. Myrtacere : Eugenia maire. Etubiacese: Coprosma tenuicaulis. The only swamps of importance are the Xearuku, north of the Kohuroa Heath, a smaller one south of Omaifl, several vet flats along the River Waipoua, and certain small pieces on the high land of the east. The swamps naturally fall into txvo categories—(l) those in which the kahikatea (Podocarpus dacrydioides) is the dominant member, and which is in miniature identical with the similar formation so extensive along the Kaipara Harbour and elsewhere; and (2) those where Cuhnia and Freycinetia are dominant, arborescent plants playing a very secondpart, finally there are the moist river-fiats and gullies, these rather ap art of the tarairi or tawa-towai associations thin of the swamp (b.) The Kahikatea Association. The ground is excessively wet, j Is of water occurring everywhere, so deep in places as to take one tip to the knee. fallen t ices lie on the ground, and along these is the only comfortable but slow method of progression. Podocarpus dacrydioides, with'slender mast-like trunk 80 ft to 100 ft. tall, and slender fastigiate heads, rise up on all sides, but not close together as in a typical kahikatea forest. Rather than the trees is the undergrowth the main feature. This consists of a tangle of the kiekie (Freycinetia) on the ground and climbing the trees and shrubs Everywhere, but not close, are slender-stemmed plants of the maire-tawake (Eugenia maire) The pin (B/echmim capense), its fronds four or five feet long and close together, forms thickets. Fairsized plants of the slender tree-fern Dicksonia squarrosa are in groups or singly here and there Dryopteris ji, ;,,,,,, ra. here with a slender trunk :i ft. or so tall and eleganl green fronds, is common. The thin-leaved juvenile form of the rose-leaved bush-lawyer (Bubus schmidelioides) creeps over the wet ground or climbs up the tree-fern trunks, as also does the lobed-leaved form of \liiehlenheekia vompli.ia. The black steins of the supplejack (Rhipogonum scandens) are much in evidence, rising out of the water and forming entanglements. Finally, there is abundance of juvenile II einmannia sylvicola. distinguished here as elsewhere by its pah leaves The sxvamp forest of the uplands near the Opanake Road is somewhat different. Here Laurelia nova-zelandia is abundant, and at times it forms considerable colonies to the exclusion of all other trees. There is abundance of the reddish and thin-leaved Eugenia maire. Rhipogonum and Freycinetia form the usual entanglements. Podocarpus dacrydioides is present in quantity in some places, while the small-leaved, Blender-twigged Coprosma tenuicaulis, a shrub of graceful habit, and the shining green-leaved broadleaf (GHselinia Kttoralis) are plentiful, crowing in the wettest ground. Blechnum capense and Dryopteris pennigera are common in many places. Weinmannia sylvicola, < oprosma grandifolia, and Fuchsia exeortica -row mixed with the other plants Finally the tree-ferns Hemitelia Smithii and Dicksonia squarrosa. this last the more abundant are present. ' v