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BOTANY OF NEIGHBOURHOOD.
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plants, some interesting aquatics are to be found, such, as the ubiquitous species Zannichellia palustris and Ruppia maritima. The latter has the curious property of sending its little flowers up to the surface of the water, on delicate stalks. Once they are floated up, they open and are no doubt fertilized by the wind. When this necessary act has been accomplished, and the seed-vessel begins to grow, the stalk twists gradually like a corkscrew and pulls the fruit down nearly to the bottom of the water, where it may ripen in comparative safety. Another ubiquitous water-plant found here is Limosella aquatica, along with which is to be met with the minute Tillæa sinclairii, one of the smallest of our flowering plants. A few scrubby Coprosma and Melicope bushes mark the position of what used to be a dense patch of scrub. We can hardly walk through this without getting a few stick-insects on our clothes; at one time they occurred here in thousands. At the head of the lagoon, now quite destitute of trees, used to grow a bit of bush famous for its ferns, now things of the past; while round the northern shore we come on patches of Corokia cotoneaster and Cyathodes acerosa. The former is a tortuously-branched little shrub with black bark, white undersides to its leaves, and little golden yellow flowers, which are open in October and November, followed about January or February by red berries. Altogether an easily-distinguished, though sometimes rather a scrubby looking plant. Cyathodes, on the other hand, is a tall shrub, with very small, prickly leaves and miniature heath-like flowers, bearing in autumn rather large snow-white berries. The north side of the lagoon generally has abundance of duck-weed and Azolla, and is one of the best spots near Dunedin for the microscopist, the water swarming with an immense variety of small life. The Tomahawk head forms a pleasant termination to this walk. Besides the usual littoral plants such as Euphorbia, white flax, large-flowered Veronica and Pimelea, which grow along the coast-line, one here meets with the small solitary-flowered forget-me-not, Myosotis antarctica. A large form of everlasting daisy (Gnaphalium trinerve) is common, together with the small stemless buttercups (Ranunculus acaulis). Peeping out of the sand are numerous fragile white flowers of Claytonia, and occasional patches of the pretty little purple-striped Mimulus repens. Altogether a good ground for a