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254 NOTES ON SOME COMPOSURE OF OTAGO, NEW ZEALAND.
polished ornamental slabs were' shown in the Industrial Exhibition at
Diuiedin, in 1865.
A few species appear to be confined, more or less, to the west coast,
or the central lake districts (e. (j. 0. operiua, Hook. f. ; 0. Colensoi,
Hook. f. ; 0. moschata, Hook. f. ; 0. nummularifoUa, Hook, f., and
O. Haastii, Hook. f.). Some of them are great ornaments of the scrub
or bush on the shores of the Western Fjords, e.g. Chalky Bay (Hector).
A few grow frequently also at considerable elevations [e.g. 0. nummu-
larlfolia and 0. Haastii, up to 4500 feet, on the Canterbury Alps].
Haast mentions species of Olearia as occurring among or forming
part of the "scrub" that immediately succeeds the Fagus forest and
Fagus scrub on the mountains of the Grey l^iver district, on the west
coast of Nelson, at an elevation of between 3000 and 4300 feet, where,
moreover, tliey are abundant.
Matthews reported to me a supposed new species, which he desig-
nated Eurybia salmarifoUa, as occurring in the Kaikorai creeks, Green-
island. I saw, however, no specimens, and suspect his plant is referable
to 0. virgata, Hook. f.
Of a total of twenty New Zealand species of Olearia, at least twelve,
or more than one-half, occur in Otago.
1. 0. nitida. Hook. f. {Eurybia, Fl. N. Z.) Banks of streams,
ravines of the Chain Hills ; Stoneyhill bush ; November and December,
in flower, W. L. L. A shrub only, wherever I found it. In the bush,
Mount Cargill, Dunedin (Matthews). Common as a bush on the sandy
soil of the river terraces of the Hokitika, on the west coast of Canter-
bury, associated with Veronica and Coriaria bushes. On the Canter-
bury west coast it is known as " Ake-ake " (Haast), a term generally
applied in other parts of New Zealand to Metrosideros scandens, or
other ?,'^Qc\e?, 0^ Metrosideros, though also to 0. avicennicefoUa (Hector),
and in the Chatham Islands to 0. Traversii, (Travers). On the moun-
tains of the west coast of Nelson it is abundant, at elevations of 3000
to 4300 feet (Haast).
One of the most ornamental species, very showy in flower ; wood
close-grained, with yellow markings (Buchanan).
Stoneyhill bush specimens represent a larger, few-flowered fopu of
the plant, while those from the open gullies of the Chain Hills repre-
sent a smaller, many-flowered form. Branches in both forms glabrous
and grooved. Tomentum most abundant, (as usual, where it occurs).