CHAPTER VI. BOTANY.
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CHAPTER VI
BOTANY.
IT would be presumption in me to offer any observations on the botany of this colony, seeing how admirably and fully the subject has been treated in the works of Dr. Hooker and others, but for the fact that the researches of the majority of these botanists have been restricted to the coast line, or to the interior of the Northern Island, and that the flora of the Alpine and sub-Alpine regions of this island was scarcely known to them. Within the last two years the flora of the interior of this province has been in some degree explored by Drs. Sinclair and Monro, and by Mr. W. T. L. Travers and Captain Rough, who have all collected highly interesting specimens; and I may here observe that it is a matter of regret that Dr. Sinclair, who has devoted much time to botanical researches in this colony, has not yet given to the world an outline of the geography of plants, which his intimate knowledge of the subject would enable him to do, and which could not fail to be very instructive.
It is a remarkable fact, and, so far as I remember, one which has never been noticed, that the majority of the flowers of the smaller plants in New Zealand, whether growing in open or in forest ground, in valley, plain, or mountain, are nearly colourless, and that, when otherwise, yellow and purple tints principally prevail, whilst those of the forest trees and their parasites are generally of a brilliant red. Amongst them the Metrosideros robusta (rata of the natives) and Metrosideros lucida are most abundant and conspicuous. The Metrosideros florida, too, adds much to the beauty of the forest, hanging in graceful festoons, covered with scarlet blossoms, from the tops of the highest trees. Although the New Zealand Fuschia cannot rival the ratas in beauty, it nevertheless gives a pleasing variety to the forest. It is a deciduous tree, the flowers of which appear before the leaves. Several species of Loranthus (misletoe) also adorn the woods, growing principally upon the evergreen Fagus, commonly known to the settlers as black and white birch. When in full bloom, these beautiful parasites greatly relieve the otherwise uniform and somewhat dull coloured vegetation of the New Zealand forest.
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In this respect the Northern Island is still richer, for in addition to those already named, we there find the puriri (Vitex littoralis) and the pohutukaua (Metrosideros tomentosa), the magnificent flowers of which form a great ornament to the landscape.
The plains near the banks of the Roto-iti lake, where I first began my examination, although of no great altitude, exhibit in their flora a sub-Alpine character. They are partly covered with grass, and, where stony, with mosses and lichens, amongst the latter of which several interesting genera of the tribe Lecidinae, belonging principally to Stereocaulon and Cladonia, are most abundant. In other parts of the plains, speargrass (Aciphylla squarrosa), growing to a large size, predominates, so as to render travelling unpleasant, if not difficult; but in the plains it does not attain the same dimensions as on the summits of the mountains. Several species of Gentiana and Celmisia are also met with.
Near the lake I found a large and beautiful species of Arundo (toe-toe), which I believe to be new. On the banks of the rivulets the handsome little fern Lomaria alpina was abundant. The shrubs found in the plains and at the bases of the hills belonged principally to the genera Leptospermum, Veronica, and Eurybia, of which some few may yet be undescribed. I was at the lake during the flowering season of these plants, the latter part of January, and in some places the hill sides appeared as if covered with snow, the green leaves almost hidden below rich masses of white flowers.
The mountain sides near Lake Roto-iti, and of the interior generally; are covered with different species of Fagus, often becoming fine trees. They range to an altitude of 4,500 to 4,700 feet. For the last 300 feet they become dwarfish and covered with the lichen Usnea, of different forms, and generally of a light greenish or yellowish colour. I believe that 4,700 feet is the greatest altitude at which the Fagus is found, and that in this respect Mr. Bidwell has fallen into error in assigning to it a range of 7,000 feet.
The black-birch forest is generally open, and the ground as well as the stems of the trees are covered deeply with mosses of the genera Hypnum, Hookeria, Dicranum, &c., besides many Hepaticae; also several handsome species of ferns of the genus Hymenophyllum occur. Amongst the ferns some species of Lomaria (for instance, Lomaria Volcanica) and some of the genera Asplenium and Polystichum range very high. Generally speaking, in the central part of the island, the birch forest is not immediately succeeded by a sub-Alpine vegetation, for I found that where the dwarfish and scrubby trees ended they were at once followed by snow-grass. Here, besides the Aciphylla squarrosa, often six to seven feet high, we meet with another spear-grass, the Aciphylla Monroi.
Amongst the rocks many interesting species of the genera
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Celmisia, Ranunculus, and Gentiana are found, of which several have not yet been described. The surface of the ground too is often covered with a carpet of small flowering plants, Donatia and Raoulia, amongst which a new species of Raoulia occur, much larger than the grandiflora of Hooker. But the most interesting plant is another Raoulia, found on Mount Robert, at an altitude of 6,000 feet, forming semi-globular masses, often three to four feet in diameter, and covered with small yellow flowers. This plant was first discovered by Drs. Sinclair and Monro, on the summit of Mount Mowatt.
I have observed, in crossing various ranges of mountains in this province, that the vegetation is much affected by aspect. Forest, for example, which on the north-west side of a mountain maintains a full and luxuriant growth, in the eastern and south-eastern sides of the same mountain, without any alteration in the character of rocks, or of the surface soil, becomes stunted in growth, covered with mosses, lichens, and indeed exhibiting in every respect the characters of sub-Alpine growth. Of course this only becomes palpable when the elevation exceeds 2,500 to 3,000 feet; but I believe that careful observations would show, that although in the lower altitudes the growth may not be materially altered, as regards mere bulk, the value of the timber for economic purposes is affected by exposure to a south-eastern aspect. This, of course, is to be referred to the coldness of the winds from that quarter, which in general are also dry winds, while those from the north and north-west are warm and moist.
From the height of 1,200 feet upwards the Fagus is generally the principal forest tree; below this altitude it is intermixed with other trees, and then grows to a large size. I met with several specimens in the upper Grey, having a circumference of twenty feet. Amongst the trees with which it is commonly mixed in the lower ground are the matai (Podocarpus spicata), hinau (Eleocarpus hinau), totara (Podocarpus totara), kahikatea (Podocarpus dacrydioides), rimu (Dacrydium capressium), miro (Podocarpus ferruginea), and others. Amongst the smaller trees and bushes the Panax and Aralia are most ornamental, from the beauty of their large and glossy leaves. At an altitude of 400 to 500 feet, where the soil is good, the totara often predominates.
In the gullies I found abundance of fern trees, sometimes ranging as high as 2,000 feet; amongst them the Dicksonia lanata and Cyathea Smithii were the most numerous; but I also occasionally saw the Cyathea medularis (the mamaku of the natives), the stem and shoots of which they prepare as an article of food, although more frequent near the coast than in the interior.
The vegetation of the mountains near the Grey plains forms a striking contrast with that near the lakes. There, on Mounts Robert and Murchison, where the black birch becomes dwarfish
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for several hundred feet, and is covered with mosses and lichens and is then at once succeeded by an Alpine vegetation. In the mountains of the Grey, on the other hand, the birch forest maintains its growth in full vigour to a height of 3,000 feet, and is then at once succeeded by a sub-Alpine vegetation of a remarkable character and dense growth. Amongst it a Dracophyllum takes the first place; whilst Metrosideros lucida, Eurybia nitida, a Senecio, and a new species of Eurybia, nearly resembling Eurybia Cunninghamii, and a new species of Weinmannia, are very frequent. In sheltered places the Dracophyllum latifolium grows to the size of a small tree, its graceful form contrasting agreeably with the dwarf ramose plants around. At a height of 4,200 to 4,300 feet, these sub-alpine shrubs cease to grow, and are succeeded by different kinds of snow grasses, so called by the settlers because they indicate the line at which, during the winter, the snow remains longest. These grasses belong to the genera Danthonia, Deyenxia, &c., and are generally intermixed with flowers of the same order as observed on Mounts Robert and Murchison.
On Black-hill I found several umbelliferous plants, amongst which I discovered a new and beautiful species of Gingidium, to which my distinguished friend, Dr. Ferdinand Muller, of Melbourne, has given my name.
The plains on the western side of the central chain contain many open spots covered with grasses, amongst which several species of Lycopodium were growing. In the more stony places I found a Gaultheria, which appears to me to be quite distinct from any hitherto described. In the other boggy ground, formerly occupied by forest trees, of which the prostrated trunks are only half buried, a new vegetation has sprung up, consisting principally of stunted manuka (Leptospermum scoparium), Arundo Australis, the wiry, rigid Calorophus minus, and the stunted looking fern, Gleichenia dicarpa, which is largely distributed under the same circumstances over both islands. I also collected a very large Polytrichum, which I think will prove to be a new variety. Besides these plants and the common Pteris esculenta, I occasionally found other ferns, as, for instance, the Pteris scaberula, the Nephrodium decompositum, the Hypholepis millefolium, as well as several species of the genus Lomaria.
In the forest of the Grey plains the larger trees consist often exclusively of totara, kahikatea, and rimu, whilst the ground is covered with ferns not previously met with, amongst which I particularly noticed the beautiful Leptopteris superba, the Pteris vespertilionis, the Gleichenia Cunninghamii, and several species of the genera Lindsea and Adiantum.
On the coast a stinking change occurs in the character of the vegetation. Here for the first time we found the nikau palm (Areca sapida), sometimes in such masses as to form perfect groves, and in others covering with its graceful form the summits of the
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rocky cliffs. Here also I observed several species of Cordyline (ti tree), and the Freycinetia Banksii (the kiekie of the natives) abounded, the whole closely interlaced by the Ripogonum parviflorum, or supplejack, which sadly impeded our progress. In fact, the flora along the coast presented quite a new appearance, being more like that of the North Island. I also found several new forms of Filices and Lycopodiaceae, amongst which were the beautiful Pteris comans, and other ferns generally found only in the northernmost part of this island, and several belonging to the genera Asplenium, Lomaria, Adiantum, &c. Amongst the Asplenia in particular were some new varieties of Asplenium bulbiferum.
In the swamps I did not observe any new plants except a species of Marchantia, which overspread with its coriaceous glossy leaves the more treacherous parts of the swamp, not covered with swamp mosses (Sphagnum), which was very abundant. The Phormium tenax (the New Zealand flax) is also to be found everywhere, ranging, as far as I could observe, to nearly 5,500 feet, and of which there are several varieties, principally growing on the mountains, and having totally different forms.
It would lead me too far were I to enter into greater details, especially as Dr. Ferdinand Muller, in Melbourne, to whom I have sent my collections, will describe what is new. I have no doubt that among the Musci, Hepaticae, and lichens, of which I collected a considerable number, following the old Linnean maxim "mirare omnia etiam tristissima," and which are so important for the geography of plants. Several will be found to be undescribed, as well as the Fungi, of which I made coloured drawings of about fifty different specimens on the spot.
It was at one time my intention to have added to this report the meteorological tables kept by me during my journey, with comparative remarks upon the climate of the city of Nelson and that of the West Coast, but after having carefully looked over both tables, I find that generally speaking there is a great similarity between them in this respect. The tables therefore would be of little practical value, except as showing this result. It would, moreover, only add to the bulk of this already long report.
As I shall have, during further and extensive explorations in this island, about to be undertaken by me, ample opportunities of collecting data for comparison of its climatological differences and peculiarities, I shall in some future publication treat fully upon this important subject.
NELSON: PRINTED BY C. AND J. ELLIOTT.
