[Received by the Editor, June 23, 1958.]

The area described in this paper is five to eight miles to the north-east of Cambridge. Its chief features are: (1) a range five miles long running North and South, with a width of two miles; and (2) a short valley and a range running East and West across the northern (Te Miro) end.

The highest point in the first range is Maungakawa, 1,260ft high, and the average height of the ridge is slightly more than 1,000ft. The highest peaks in the transverse range are from 1,200ft to 1,460ft. The base of each range is nearly 300ft above sea-level. The steep western slope of the first range is exposed to the winds which sweep across the Waikato Basin, but the eastern, sloping to a trough or basin about 750ft above sea-level, is more sheltered. There are many amphitheatres and small basins; some are still wooded, others contain bogs. Maungakawa is of volcanic origin, the rock being an andesite, but at the northern end the rock is a greywacke. With this diversity of aspect, soil, and height above sea-level, different plant associations have developed.

The average rainfall is probably higher than that at Cambridge (50ins per annum for the years 1952–1957).

There is reason to believe that almost the whole area was formerly covered with subtropical rain forest, but most of it has been transformed into good farmland.

On Maungakawa there is the newly constituted Sanatorium Hill Scenic Reserve, comprising a little over 100 acres. Nearly all the large trees (matai, rimu, kahikatea, etc.) were cut out many years ago, but there is much regeneration of other species. This reserve and all the other remaining wooded areas have been profoundly affected by the continuous and uncontrolled entry of farm animals for over seventy years. Fallow deer were numerous in the district until ten years ago, and their influence on the native vegetation must have been very great. Opossums have established themselves in the Sanatorium Hill Scenic Reserve, with the result that the mahoe, fuchsia, kohekohe and other trees are being stripped of their foliage.

Special Features of the Flora

• 1. Great numbers of mangeao (Litsaea calicaris) on all the higher ground; a considerable number of karaka (Corynocarpus laevigata) on parts of Maungakawa; a profusion of rewarewa (Knightia excelsa), of tree ferns, and of both individuals and species of Metrosideros.

• 2. Very large rata trees (Metrosideros robusta), including a healthy specimen with a girth of 34 feet.

• 3. The occurrence of (a) a mistletoe (Elytranthe adamsii) in what is apparently its most southerly habitat; (b) Pseudopanax ferox and Nothopanax laetum, both rare plants in the Waikato Basin.

• 4. At Te Miro, about the 300ft level, there are great numbers of seedlings of matai (Podocarpus spicatus) and of totara (P. totara).

• 5. In one sphagnum bog at Te Miro there is a profusion of sundews (Drosera binata), of an orchid rare in the Waikato (Pterostylis graminea) and of Ranunculus rivularis.

• 6. On a few dry sunny slopes there is a heath association comprising Pteridium esculentum, Dianella intermedia, Leptospermum scoparium, Pomaderris phylicaefolia, Leucopogon fasciculatus, Coprosma robusta, wood rushes, and sedges.

• Myrtaceae

• Leptospermum scoparium J. R. & G. Forst.—C

• —ericoides A. Rich.—O

• Metrosideros scandens (J. R. & G. Forst.) Druce—A

• —carminea W. R. B. Oliver—A

• —diffusa (Forst. f.) W. R. B. Oliver—C

• —colensoi Hook. f.—O

• —robusta A. Cunn.—O

• —perforata (J. R. & G. Forst.) Rich.—A

• Myrtus bullata Sol. ex A. Cunn.—O

• Eugenia maire A. Cunn.—O

• Onagraceae

• Epilobium spp?

• Fuchsia excorticata Linn. f.—O

• Haloragidaceae

• Haloragis erecta (Murr.) Schindler—A

• Araliaceae

• Nothopanax edgerleyi (Hook. f.) Harms—O

• —arboreum (Linn. f.) Seem.—A

• —laetum Cheesem.—R

• Schefflera digitata J. R. & G. Forst.—A

• Pseudopanax crassifolium (Sol.) C. Koch—A

• —ferox T. Kirk—R

• Umbelliferae

• Hydrocotyle elongata A. Cunn.—O

• —dissecta Hook. f.—O

• —americana Linn.—O

• —novae-zelandiae DC.—O

• Centella uniflora (Col.) Nannfeldt—O

• Cornaceae

• Griselinia lucida Forst. f.—O

• Ericaceae

• Gaultheria antipoda Forst. f.—O

• Epacridaceae

• Leucopogon fasciculatus (Forst. f.) A. Rich.—A

• Myrsinaceae

• Myrsine salicina Heward—O

• —australis (A. Rich.) Allan—A

• Oleaceae

• Olea lanceolata Hook. f.—O

• —montana Hook. f.—O

• Loganiaceae

• Geniostoma ligustrifolium A. Cunn.—A

• Apocynaceae

• Parsonsia heterophylla A. Cunn.—A

• Solanaceae

• Solanum nigrum Linn.—A

• —aviculara Forst. f.—O

• Scrophulariaceae

• Hebe salicifolia (Forst. f.) Pennell—O

• Rubiaceae

• Coprosma australis (A. Rich.) Robinson—A

• —lucida J. R. & G. Forst.—O

• —robusta Raoul—A

• —arborea T. Kirk—A

• —areolata Cheesem.—C

• —tenuicaulis Hook. f.—C

• —propinqua A. Cunn.—O

• Nertera depressa Banks & Sol. ex Gaertn.—A

• Caprifoliaceae

• Alseuosmia quercifolia A. Cunn.—O

• Campanulaceae

• Pratia angulata Hook. f.—O

• Wahlenbergia gracilis Schrad.—O

• Compositae

• Olearia rani (A. Cunn.) Druce—C

• Brachyglottis repanda J. R. & G. Forst.—A

• Senecio kirkii Hook. f.—O

• Sonchus oleraceus Linn.—A

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank the following for their help with the identification of specimens: Dr. H. H. Allan, Dr. W. R. B. Oliver, Miss M. Crookes, Miss L. B. Moore, Mr. E. D. Hatch, Mr. A. J. Healy; also Mr. A. C. A. Caldwell for his help in the field.

Nomenclature

I have followed the nomenclature of Cheeseman's “Manual of the New Zealand Flora” (1925 edition) in most cases, but by the advice of Mr. A. J. Healy I have adopted the changes made by various authorities in the genera Typha, Dianella, Clematis, Metrosideros, Astelia, Rubus, Acaena, Carmichaelia, Pomaderris and Myrsine, and by the advice of the late Dr. H. H. Allan I have adopted the changes in all the ferns except the genera Hymenophyllum and Trichomanes.

Mr. M. C. Gudex,