General Remarks.

A coast-line between four and five thousand miles in length, extending from nearly the latitude of Sydney in the north to far beyond that of the southernmost point of Tasmania in the south, may well furnish a great deal of diversity in both species and societies of plants. The varieties of stations for plant-life are also augmented by the physical features of the shore. In some places calm fiords, flanked by towering, precipitous mountains, stretch far inland; in others an ironbound coast faces the ocean storms. There are long stretches of level shore—of gravel or of sand—extensive estuaries, and tidal rivers. In short, the two main Islands, together with Stewart Island, present a diversified coast not surpassed in variety of physical features by any other of equal size.