General.

The vascular plants of the Park are well known as the result of observations made by Cockayne, Laing, Oliver, Mitchell, Calder, and others; but no comprehensive account has hitherto been written concerning the extensive cryptogamic flora of the area, notwithstanding important observations made by Berggren, Brown, Beckett, Petrie, and others concerning the bryophytes, by Holloway concerning the filmy ferns, and by Du Reitz and Allan concerning the lichen flora. The present paper is the outcome of work carried out in the area by the writer during the summers of 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945. It concerns only the valleys of the Bealey and Otira Rivers and wholly omits the head-waters of the Waimakariri (though these were visited by Armstrong, Brown, and Beckett), and the basins of the Mingha and Deception Rivers.