C—ll.

28

shoot* brownisk i at their apices. Also there are many patches of the rather taller but less dense creeping shrub Gaultheria antipoda, it. coriaceous small leaves frequently more or less deeply tinged with red. ~ perplexa, t0,., a plant with narrow leaves, is abundant in manj places The palegreen, small, creeping shrub Styphelia Frazeri, with its shori erect stems ,;,v',,,l with aceroe ™ b "cating stff and small leaves tiny white flowers or orange drupes, is everywhere mixed with IT g.oundwork of the meadow consisting ~f Gehnina longifolia, Euphrasia cuneata var. ,/o a,,,l II atonberoia Frequently growing close up to ,1,,. tussocks are conspicuous mate oi the depressed shrub Styphelia Colemoi, 2 yards across by I yd. and 4 in. or so tall \s tor grasses, there are occasional small close tussocks of the slender leaves of Poa Colemoi the flowers aieejfor some 4 in. above the ground; and the straw-coloured Danthonia ncmianmdaru va" do,s the ground in places. Also, there is more or less, but not evenly distributed of Bieroehloe redden, Poa ancep,, Poa ccnpitota, and Agropyn*m scabrnm. Kinallv one of the mosi distinctive features of the spaces between the tussocks, and the most striking in' many 1 :; , ;;;! ; if * •*■«. - ";•• -y? ** moss v»m /***£., wS 3 £sXfi3 s] ,s * fttte ° ed '" the ground and close together, thus forming a kind of mosaic, while the spikes Zt Z tTf l-T e ? "'• ' ■ (V '! ai " ' Ah r Plante l " ,ter int " the 'wmation, but Ly are for h most part of little physiognomic value, and comparatively few in numbers. (3.) Meadow* of Tongariro. The steppe on Tongariro is of a much more meadow-like character than the typical erass steppe although the constituents are the same for the most part. The /w/ su ~,, is of closer and more luxuriant growth, fn some places Cdmlia ipectabilu is extremely abundan and gives the dominant character? In others are many cushions of the white v,- ophX mos ' retnm.hng one of the so-called -moss- of Mount Egmont. Bui the most inteXfolS is the collection of alpine herbs at an altitude of 5,500ft. or so on some of the slopes I sue places the ground is covered with stones, large and small, between which is almost a cK cover ng with small glaucous-coloured tussocks or mats of Poa Colensoi everywhere and in the esi abundance, giving a colour to the whole hillside, which at a distant is of a general grev hue With them, dotted about in profusion, are large plants o f Qentiana 25)' COPrOt ei «# " -" — ■ d/. I Thb Shhub-stbppb. The shrub-steppe is a transitional phase between desert and grass on the one hand or sub a pine scrub and ores, on the other, according to climate and soil conditions. It is mo common at altitudes of between 3,600ft. and 4,500ft., and occupies the flat ground which iTnotb^v rormation: (Epaoridaoee) Dracophyttum reeurvum, I), mhulatum, I) UrvMeanum va. montanum, Epaeru alpina, Styphdia Fraxeri, Pentaehondra pumito; 1 eweferm, C dmuiaspectabilisj (Taxace*) bacrydi«m laxifoZm, D. kl X'Z njvafU; (Rubiaoee) Coproima depressa, C. repens; (Scrophularinaoeae) teTtZoZ Ourtsta Colensoi, Euphrasia cuneata var tricolor B revoluta- niv.- ;, i o« ,"""!iona, ac!^(i!s?aajEss£" A,m, '" ,;^ " -* K v - ,: L;? " T2 give the physiognomy a quite different Mann, to that of a Brass-stenM vl • i , J— ks blend one into the other. The tussock, of course" Z^t\l ance: one or two , may be close together, but usuallj the are isolated and distant say sft to 10ft. They are of small,.,- dimensions than those of the graes-steppe The formation is an open one, and consists of ,a,sed mounds of shrubs separated bv Batches Of flat ground, either quite bare or with a scanty vegetation—the remains of he desert in K? Ihese mounds are bu.lt up of fine dust-like sand and humus, and are of a dun character Thev affords a contrast, and is of physiognomic importance The shrubs ,n. noHsolat^d n> ITV'T " P UV ' Perh - P " aI '"" S, ''"■ (, " ,i,V fl0rul « " f being P .r e ntThu; Dracophyttum reeurvum may rise out of Dacrydium laxifolium, and a .olitar l r, ant or I ISililiei