C.—6.

and on rocks—the first-named is the tallest (sometimes a small tree) and its lovely flowers are waxywhite, urn-shaped, and arranged in racemes up to 2 in. long, and its fruits are dry capsules, but those of the other species (very large in G. depressa) are succulent, white or red, and quite pleasing ; the mountain-neinei (Dracophyllum Traversii) is a tuft-tree which occurs in abundance in the subalpine forest and cries aloud for attention, with its rosettes of tapering, long-pointed, reddish, recurved leaves (frequently compared to those of a jiineapple), 1 ft.—2 ft. long, terminating short, stout branches which, candlebra-fashion, curve outwards and upwards ; the creeping-calceolaria (Jovellana repens) makes mats of small, round coarsely-toothed, hairy leaves in moist places on the forests' outskirts and bears in abundance small, two-lipped, white flowers spotted with purple; the false-musk (Mazus radicans), so common on old river-beds, at once betrays itself by its large, two-lipped, white flowers blotched with purple ; the alpine-azalea (Hebe macrantha) straggles amongst shrubs, its obovate leaves pale green, thick and glossy and its beautiful flowers pure white and § in. diameter or more ; the snowglory (Ourisia macrocarpa var. calycina) has rather large white flowers on slender stalks arranged tier above tier on a stout main stem, 6 in. to 12 in. high, and dark-green, oblong leaves crowded on a short, creeping stem ; the creeping snow-glory (Ourisia caespitosa), a lovely plant forming close mats of small, glossy-green, notched leaves bearing on slender stems the rather large white blossoms in the utmost profusion ; the violet snow-glory (Ourisia sessifolia) has flat rosettes of densely-hairv pale-green leaves and large flowers, white above, but violet below, held above the foliage on stems about 4 in. high; the various sorts of karamu (Coprosma) have usually small leaves, and bear in autumn a surprising wealth of small usually translucent " berries " (really stone-fruit each with 2 plano-convex stones) which are white, yellow, orange, red, blue of every shade, and black; the fairy-cup (Forstera Bidwillii) is a charming little plant with very small spreading, horny, recurved leaves pressed to the short (2 in.6 in. long) slender stems, which give off still more slender flower-stalks each bearing 1 to 3 delicate white flowers at most -j in. diameter; dense cushion-plants (especially Donatio, novae-zelandiae, Pliyllachne Golensoi, and Celmisia sessilijiora) are a feature of high-mountain bogs, semi-bogs, and stony debris — the first two are green and bear multitudes of small, white flowers on the surface of the cushion, and the last consists of silvery rosettes of short leaves crowded together and bearing in abundance small stemless white daisy-like flowers; the various tree-daisies (species of Olearia and Senecio) have usually thick leaves (in some cases musk-scented, particularly those of the mountain-holly and the incense-bush) of many shapes and sizes, generally covered beneath with a dense mat of hairs (tomentum), and bear in the greatest profusion large bunches of their sweet-scented flower-heads ; the cotton-plants (species of Celmisia with, striking upright rosettes of lance-shaped or dagger-shaped leaves, silvery or green, and covered beneath with a close mat of hairs) are a remarkable feature of subalpine scenery, striking both from the colour and form of their rosettes, and from their profusion of large marguerite-like flowerheads reaching in the silvery cotton-plant (C. coriacea) a diameter of 5 in. ; the mountain-musks (matforming species of Celmisia, with generally white or silvery, aromatic, short leaves, usually covered beneath with a white mat of hairs, and bearing numerous, medium-sized flower-heads on rather wiry stalks) are represented by several charming species, of which the most common are C. Du Rietzii (leaves green above —formerly included as one of the problematical group, C. Sinclairii), and C. discolor (leaves white above —the C. intermedia of the " Manual of the New Zealand Flora ") ; the false-edelweiss (Helichrysum bellidioides) occurs at most altitudes, forming silvery mats, and having daisy-like heads of white flowers which last a long time when dried ; the South Island edelweiss (Lencogenes grandiceps) is a wonderfully beautiful " everlasting '* with perennial silvery leaves pressed rather closely against the much-branched stems which may be 3 in. to 6 in. high, and which bear at their apices a large compound flower-head surrounded by short spreading, shining-white, flannellv leaves ; the snowmarigold (Senecio scorzoneroides) in its large marguerite-like flower-heads is much like a celmisia, but its leaves are green and fleshy, and it is covered in most parts with short glandular hairs. Besides the species—group of similar individuals which breed true (" simple species "), or slightly different true-breeding groups of which two or more are taken together for convenience—(" compound species ") —there are a good many groups of hybrids between them. This matter of the abundance of hybrid groups —not merely an occasional hybrid here and there—is arousing the keen interest of botanists in every part of the world, for the phenomenon has a strong bearing both on the origin of species and on their delimiting ; indeed, so far as the New Zealand flora is concerned, much new knowledge has already come to light regarding the species, and no few believed for many years to be absolutely valid are now known to be merely individual hybrids forming a small part of the great group of such. In the list of species, &c., of the area under consideration we include 50 groups of hybrids, but there are doubtless more awaiting discovery, for, according to a list by L. Cockayne and H. H. Allen, soon to be published, the total number for the whole New Zealand region is no less than 427 groups. Some of the hybrid groups of the Glacial Reserves are of great size, and the individual hybrids show every transition in character from the one parent to the other, while those very near to either parent can only be recognized as hybrids by breeding methods. The largest groups occur between species in the following genera : Asplenium, Podocarpus (especially when P. nivalis and P. acutifolius are present), Danthonia, Astelia (first noted in South Westland), Coriaria (easy to pick out the hybrids), Aristotelia (a surprising mixture), Fuchsia Nothopanax, Gaultheria (all the species are concerned), Dracophyllum, Coprosma (the hupiro —C. foetidissenia —hands on its evil odour), Olearia, Celmisia, and Senecio (S. Lyallii X scorzoneroides produces a most beautiful race of white, cream, and various yellows). This matter of hybridism is too intricate to deal with here at any length, but for those who are already able to recognize the species involved the quest for hybrids is most fascinating, and likely to be of far greater scientific value than the hasty grabbing of bits of plants in the hope that such may be something " new " —a procedure which has done no end of harm to botany in the past.

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