tlicir allies in Austi'aiia. A paucity of Grasses, an absence of Leguminosoe, an abundance of bushes
and Ferns, and a want of annual plants, are tlie prevalent featmes in the open country, whilst tlie
forests abound in Cryptogamia, and in pbænogamic plants with obscure green flowers, and very
often of obscure and little-known Natural Orders*,
Considerably more th an two hundi-cd of the New Zealand species have either unisexual or
polygamous flowers, or are otherwise incomplete in the ir reproductive organs, even when their floral
envelopes are more or less developed. The niimhcr of N atural Ordersf is largo in proportion to the
genera ; hcing as 93 to 382, th a t is, ahout one to three : while the genera are to the species as 282
to 730, each genus having on the average only two and a half species ; ivhence it follows th a t there
are, on the average, h u t eight species to each Natural Order,
Considering these circumstances, and the additional one, th a t very many of the Natm-al Orders
cannot he recognized by the flower alone, by fruit alone, or by habit or foliage, it may, I think, safely
be said th a t the New Zealand Flora is, for its extent, much the most difficult on the globe to a
beginner. Indeed, the mere fact th a t the student must know a Natural Order for every eight species
he has to investigate, oflbrs as direct a means of proving this by comparison as any datum could do,
for the probable proportion of species of plants on the globe to the knovni Natura’l Orders, exceeds
three hundred and fifty to one; in Tasmania the proportions are eleven to one, and in Great Britain
they average fourteen to one.
I t is, therefore, not surprising th a t the vegetation of New Zealand should he wanting in any
conspicuous or prevailing featiu-e, which is the case to so great a degree that, excluding Ferns, I do
not think any tivo botanists would, without investigation, characterize any p a rt of the islands as the
region of any particular order, genus, or species. The Coniferæ, when known, prove to he perhaps
the most universally prevalent natural family; but the majority of their species, not being social, hut
growing intermixed with other trees, give no chai-aoter to the landscape. The vast iiumher of trees,
the paucity of herbaceous plants, and the almost total absence of annuals, are the most remarkable
features of the Flora ; for of flowering trees, including shrubs above twenty feet high, there are upwards
of l i s t , or nearly one-sixth of the Flora, besides 156 shrubs and plants with woody stems. Of the
largest N a tu ra l Orders, so far as regards the number of species, the individuals are often so few,
th a t the botanist would form a very erroneous estimate of the numerical force of such in the wliole
island from an examination of some of its parts only : thus the Orders most numerous in species are,
Compositæ, 90 ; Cyperaceæ, 66 ; Gramineæ, 53 ; Scrophularineæ, 40 ; Orchideæ, 39 ; Rubiaceoe, 26 ;
and Ejiacrideæ and Umbdliferæ, each 23 ; noue of which can be said to form prevalent features in
the landscape^ though none are rare.
In the neighbouring island of Tasmania, where the same Orders predominate to a great extent,
the case is widely different : there the Grasses everywhere form a prominent feature ; the Cypjeraceæ,
* My first day’s collections about the Bay of Islands included Comjnocarpus, Alseuosmia, Melicyius, Lrimys,
Aristotelia, Coriaria, Gunnera, Carpodetus, Grmlinia, Corokia, Geniostoma, Laurelia, TIedycarya, Freycinelia, llhi-
pogonum, aud Astelia; all belonging to small, obscure, or little-known Natural Orders, many long considered of
dubious affinity : besides a host of obscure genera of little-known families.
t It is to be observed, that I have adopted as few Natural Orders as possible ; fewer, I think, than I should
have done in a ivork on general botany ; bat I Avas anxious to diminish as much as possible the labours of the
beginner. Had I adopted all the Orders that have been proposed, there would be upwards of a hundred of flowering
plants in N cav Zealand.
Î In England there are not more than 35 native trees, out of a flora of upwards of 1400 species.
from tlieir size, strength, and cutting foliage, ai-rest tlie traveller’s progress through th e forest;
OrcUdeæ of many kinds cai-pet the ground in spring with beautiful blossoms; th e heaths are gay
with Epacrideæ; herbs, trees, and shrubs of Conrpositæ meet the eye in every direction; whilst the
Myrtaceæ and Leguminosoe are characteristics both of the arboreous and shrubby vegetation. The
difference is so marked, th a t I retain the most vivid recollection of the physiognomy of the Tasmanian
mountains and valleys, h u t a very indifferent one of the New Zealand forest, ivhere aU is,
comparatively speaking, blended into one green mass, relieved a t the Bay of Islands by the symmetrical
crown of the Tree-fern, the pale green fountain of foliage of the Dacrydium cupressinum, and
the poplar-like Knightia overtopping all. I t is tru e th a t there is more variety in the la tte r country
th an is expressed by this selection of a few individuals, and a little reflection recalls a vast number
of noble, and some beautiful botanical objects, Imt m th the exception of groves of th e Kaikatca Fine
(Podocarpus dacrydioides) on the swampy river hanks, the Pomaderris and Leptospermum on the
open hfll-sides, and Dammara on their crests, there is little to arrest the botanist’s first glanco; and
nothing in the massing or grouping of the species of any N a tu ra l Order renders th a t Order an
important element in the general lajidseape, or gives individuality to any of its parts, by flowers
and gaiety, or by foliage and gloom. The same features prevail even so far south as Lord Auckland’s
Group, where Bracophyllum, Coprosma, Metrosideros, Panaw, and a slmubby Veronica unite to form
an evergreen mantle ; and I suspect, from the accounts I have heard and read, th a t they arc repeated
on the damp cool coasts of Chili, to the north of the region of the sombre Beech-forests which
clothe the Euegiaii islands.
A. Plants peculiar to Neto Zealand.
In analysing the Fhænogamic Flora of New Zealand, the first important result is the large
amount of absolutely peculiar or endemic plants, of which there are 26 genera and 507 species, or
more than two-thirds of the whole. Of these, the greater proportion are Exogens, as was to he
expected, from the Grasses, Cyperaceæ, and water-plants being more widely diffused than any other
families.
The Petaloid Endogens, on the other hand, are remarkably local, especially the OrcUdeæ, of
Avhich only tw^o species, ont of thirty-nine, are found elsenffierc (in Tasmania). This, however, is so
invariably the case with Orc/iiieæ, th a t the proportion of species in the globe to other N a tm a l Orders
is perhaps greatly underrated. Nearly all the N cav Zealand genera of Orchids are natives of
Australia, and most of them are otherwise peculiar to th a t continent ; the ubiquitous Spirantlies is the
most marked exception, as Australia contains the only Avidely distributed species in th a t vast Natural
Order, namely, S. rosea, which howcAær is replaced in New Zealand by S. Novæ-Zelandioe.
The next peculiar Order is Coniferæ, whose tAvelve species are all endemic*: it is very Avidely
spread, and many of its species in the northern hemisphere have Avide though strictly defined ranges.
In this respect the southern species differ from the northern, for they are local ; thus several occupy
very limited areas indeed in Tasmania and elscAAlierc, of Avhich the Huon and Norfolk Island Pines
arc remarkable instances : Dammara australis is confined to the northern h a lf of the northern
island of New Zealand, and other species only grow on a feAv lofty mountains. Of the New Zealand
genera, tAvo are peculiar to it, Australia, and the Malay Archipelago [Dacrydium and Pliyllocladus) ;
* Except perhaps Pliyllocladus, one species of which is very closely allied to the Tasmanian P. aspleniifoUa.