44.

SOME NOTES ON THE EAR NORTH. - George Mason,

Scot's PT. ^...^

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The or consists of a much dissected tableland in the extreme north connected by a great tombolo sweeping south-east to the ancient mainland at Ahipara. Its extreme length on the west coast is sixty miles, but its breadth in some places is less than five miles. Much of the area is very low lying especially towards the southern end. There are few hills of any height - Mt. Camelr. situated on a narrow tongue of land on the seaward side of Harbour, reaches to 774 feet, and in several places along the extreme northern coast the hills rise to just over 1000 feet e.g. Unuwhao, 1063 feet, at the eastern end of Spirits Bay. Northwards from the mainland at the country is very young geologically being of Recent Age. Extending in a belt from near the shores of , along the to , and then out to the west coast at Ahipara are low lying alluvial plains consisting of swampy and sandy peat deposits. These organic soils now Support a rich pasture grassland of Paspalum, Rye grass and Clover which is the basis of a prosperous dairying industry as on the Kaitaia Plat. Northwards from here connecting Ahipara to the North Cape area proper are extensive sand dunes of very recent origin. These wind blown sands cover the older rock formations of the coast and being bare of vegetation quite often are constantly moving inland. They farm a continuous belt 50 miles long and sometimes extend right across the peninsula to the east coast. This Par North area has been subject to considerable fluctuations in level since the end of the Tertiary Period. At some time it was reduced to a few small islands separated by shallow seas from the northern mainland - then to a more elevated stretch of land than at present so that it was probably joined to the Three Kings group further to the north. It may have bean at this time that the Kauri forests flourished here, but as the land sank to its present leve these were eliminated by encroaching sand and by the land becoming swampy with numerous shallow lakes and ponds as now. 45.

North of Awanui are extensive peat swamps extending out to the west coast. Large quantities of Kauri gum have been taken from such swampy ground, but the drifting sand dunes overly much of this Kauri gum peat. At Waipapakauri the hills are blanketed with a very dense and pure growth of the introduced Hakea acicularis. The hills from here northwards to Houhora Harbour are low and scrub covered but drifting sand from the west coast is encroaching on the inland farms. In some localities the sand invasion has been as rapid as 200-250 yards in a few months. The land here consists of older, consolidated Pleistocene sands which form the backbone of this country, and connects the far north tableland to the southern mainland. The vegetation is very barren and scanty, consisting of manuka and bracken heath on the 1 .' hills with sedges and raupo in the swampy valleys. One soon realises that the landscape is quite devoid of trees and that it is characterised by the monotonous grey-green colouring of Leptospermum which strongly dominates this heath, Houhora Harbour is dominated by Mt. Camel (named by Captain Cook) and this more elevated mass is composed of an outcrop of harder and more ancient rocks. It was originally scrub covered but since the early days has been repeatedly burnt resulting in the northern and eastern slopes being eroded down to bare clay leaving a truly barren and blackened landscape. Firing of the vegetation has long been characteristic of the Par North and therefore no Europeans have seen the true natural vegetation here. Fires lit by the original inhabitants, the Aupouri (black smoke) tribe, probably swept over much of this open country before the arrival of the pakeha. The primitive manuka heath with its dense, closed canopy has gradually deteriorated with this continual firing and in places the indigenous induced grass Danthonia semiannularis has spread widely over scrub covered land which has been repeatedly burnt. Apart from an attempt at pine afforestation around Ngataki, the gumlands extend northwards. Here an occasional old gumdigger gains a scanty livelihood as he further adds to the depletion of the semi-natural heath and swamplands by repeated firing. Prickly thickets of Hakea were common in the scrub and are evidently spreading rapidly - this exotic could well have been left in its native home, Australia. Between Waihopo and Ngataki the golden wattle (Acacia longifolia) is most abundant, no doubt helped much by firing, and also by its own prolific seeding, rapid germination and growth. At Te Kao the consolidated sands end and a mid-Tertiary volcanic conglomerate now is present, and this is shown by the road cuttings of a red clay with ironstone pebbles. Low lying alluvial flats near Te Kao and some of the surrounding gently undulating country, all less than 200 feet above sea level, are grassed in a paspalum, rye grass, clover pasture. But the land north of Tangaoke rises to over 300 feet becoming hilly and of intense relief with very few flat areas. These latter are largely confined to around the shores of Parengarenga Harbour which is an extensive inlet formed by the drowning of a sunken stream system. The south head of the Harbour is built of dazzling white sand which must be almost pure silica and it finds use in the glass making industry. From here the Harbour spreads out in all directions giving a very irregular outline - shallow arms run to the north and south and almost across to the west coast. At low water the greater part of the Harbour is bare of water leaving mudflats drained by channels which are fringed with mangroves. The muddy inlets and their streams run inland and terminate in the usual swamp vegetation between the low hills. The adjacent country is quite bare of forest and the open gumland vegetation is often sparse. But plants more of note were Pomaderris edgerleyi. Epacris pauciflora and the climbing parasite Cassytha paniculata interlaced and trailing everywhere, Cassytha, an endemic to the Far North, is especially abundant in manuka heath which has been repeatedly burnt in recent years. 46.

From the Te Hapua ro ad junction the road ascends through more gumlands and then turns down into the more fertile valley in which Te Paki Station homestead is situated amongst the farm trees. The pastures are composed mainly of three introduced grasses - Paspalum dilatatum, perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and white clover (Trifolium repens). This pasture shows marked seasonal changes. In summer the ryegrass-clover combination tends to dry off to a drab brown appearance, but the paspalum dominates as green patches. The drier ridges are grassed in Danthonia (p. semiannularis, D. pilosa and crosses between these two spp.). Juncus polyanthemus was common over the wetter land. By the old Te Paki stream road many different varieties of Leptospermum scoparium (var. incanum) and L. ericoides (var. lineatum) were noted in the scrub with a silky-leaved form, possibly approaching L. sinclairii. The consistently uniform drab colour of the manuka heath is relieved somewhat by the pink flowered variety of L. scoparium which was common here. On the encroaching west coast dunes were growing such common arenarian plants as Cassinia retorta, Arundo conspicua, phormium tenax and the introduced Lupinus arboreus. One of the large fresh water lakes, dammed back by the ever-moving sands, contained some interesting water plants, besides the fringing Typha - these included two members of the order Charales (Nitella sp. and ehara sp., both of which were conspicuously fertile) and Potamogeton polygonifolius, all of -which were retrieved from the sandy lake floor. Nearer the coast the huge sandhills are often almost completely bare of vegetation, though the dune foreshore is somewhat stabilised by the native sand binder, Spinifex and, to a lesser extent, by the sedge, Desmoschoenus spiralis. The sand colonising plants occur in a definite regular pattern with an unstable, sparsely vegetated zone near the coast, to a semi-stable belt, then to a fixed dune area further inland. Thus the Spinifex zone has many bare areas with a few associated plants such as Calystegia soldanella and Oxalis corniculata. The yellow dune phase has less bare ground with Cassinia dominant; also present are Muehlenbeckia complexa. Coprosma acerosa and the sprawling shrub, Pimelia arenaria. Arundo conspicua and the sedge, Scirpus nodosus, are tussock forms found here. Finally, the grey dune phase has a complete ground cover of shrubs dominated by Leptospermum with a few scattered clumps of Pohutakawa. Two miles northwards from the Te Paki stream mouth, along the beach, is Scott's Point or Pukekarea. This bold, rocky headland forms the northern termination (at least for motoring anyway) of the so-called Ninety Mile Beach. Around its cliffs are the usual coastal species with some coastal shrub vegetation such as Pseudopanax lessonii and Coprosma repens in the valleys. In one of the gully bays grows the now rare .Fuschia procumbens with its peculiar heterostylous flowers. The top of the bluff is a broad, windswept plateau, the manuka scrub is low and windshorn with flax more common than further inland. Inland, in the damp valleys between the sandhills, are found such swamp sedges as Eleocharis sphacelata, Cladium glomeratum. C. articulatum and Schoenus tendo. Here in the moist sand was Gunnera arenaria with its yellowish- red spikes loaded with ripe fruit. Amongst the gumland sedges on the dry hills were observed Dracophyllum lessonianum, Lindsaya linearis and clumps of Todea barbara with its massive erect trunks in a burnt gully. With its frequent burning, the last being not long past, these gumlands presented a truly desolate picture. Around Te Paki Station an attempt has been made to establish a tung oil plantation but with little success - a few trees are the only remaining evidence. The road from here to lighthouse winds through hills sparsely covered in sedges mainly, with some other heath plants. The depleted state of the manuka heath cover is strongly reflected in the great variety of forms and stages of regeneration. Reversion to a bracken phase is usual after firing with some Schoenus tendo, but the bracken decreases with repeated burning leading to pure Schoenus and accelerated soil erosion. This is the only cover over much of the hills here. There is little or no replacement of the depleted indigenous plant cover by exotic communities nor infiltration by individual exotic species such as Gorse or Hakea. This is probably due to the isolation of this area from the south and the' short period of time since these exotics became established there. In this hill country north of Te Paki are numerous streams forming interesting swamps and fresh water lakes. The swamps are fringed with raupo evident as a very distinctive pale green colour, also observed w>re Kyllinga brevifolia, Scirpus lenticularis, Paspalum scrobiculatum, Sparganium antipodum, Isachne australia, Epilobium pillidiflorum, Juncus plebius. Cladium gunnii and C. junceum. Even hough these raupo swamps are regularly burnt the water protects the bases from being completely destroyed and thus the change is only temporary. There is no widespread infiltration of alien plants. There is only little flax present in these northern swamps. • • y Turning off from the Reinga road, the swampy course of the Werahi stream was followed to an old Maori pah and then out to the north west coast. On the sand dunes here were found Pimelia arenaria, Coprosma acerosa. C. rhamnoides, and the introduced Echinopogon ovatus. Carex pumila was present near the stream outlet while further inland were pockets of Typha, sedges such as Mariscus ustulatus, Eleocharis acuta, Cladium spp. and Leptocarpus simplex. Around Cape Maria Van Dieman the vegetation shows- little of note, the area consisting of much bare sand with the usual coastal cliff species at the Cape, and, similarly, on the island itself where there is the abandoned lighthouse. Such plants include Phormium, Cassinia, Arundo, Mesembryanthemum, Muehlenbeckia, Apium prostratum. Lobelia anceps and Scirpus nodosus, also Asplenium obtusatum. Three miles eastwards along the beach and across the mouth of ti" Werahi Stream is Cape Reinga and the present lighthouse which is reached by a steep climb from the beach. From Reinga point the track drops down a grassy ridge into a sheltered inlet known as Otongawhiti. A picturesque little stream flowing down into this bay was followed from its source. At the head of the valley were found quite large bushes of Veronica diosmaefolia abundantly in flower. Growing in profusion on the rocky banks of the stream was the rare Colensoa physaloides. much of it in full flower. By the stream grew thickets of Rhabdothamnus solandri, Suttonia australis. Coprosma rhamnoides and Carmichaelia australis. The mouth of the creek and the bay were fringed with pohutukawas. After a walk over poor pasture land and ridges, Tapotopoto Bay was reached - this is a wide bay with a sand dune built up on its seaward face which is now grassed in buffalo grass Stenotaphrum secundatum). A stream which enters the bay from scrub- covered hills behind, forms a brackish water lagoon lined with 48.

Juncus maritimus, Leptocarpus and Plagianthus divaricatus. Further back the tidal creek is fringed with quite large mangrove trees. Hakea pubescens was introduced to the extreme north here at Tapotopoto in the 1880s for the use as a hedge plant; but it has spread only little from here, being abundant on only a few hillsides north of Te Paki. From here the ridges ascend steeply to one of the highest points in the North Cape area being over 10C0 ft. almost shear above the sea. This trig point, known as Tirikawa or Darkin's Hill, on its southern side has light bush consisting of Brachyglottis. Suttonia. Melicytus ramiflorus. Helichrysum glomeratum., Leucopogon fasciculatus and a few Cordyline. Between here and Pandora are steep ridges separated by narrow V-shaped gullies. The streams draining this area descend to trie sea over cliffs by small waterfalls. These ridges are covered in manuka and low bracken scrub with Hakea acicularis now asserting itself. The frequent firing of this scrub has enabled this exotic to spread and maintain its position as a significant member of this community. Little of this country is in pasture but the steep coastal cliffs support pohutakawas and light bush remains at the head of the valleys. This open coastal bush is again seen at Pandora or Whangakea which is about a mile from the western end of Spirits Bay itself. Here by a stream were Brachyglottis, Fuchsia, purini and a few tree ferns, while on the flats were Cordyline and clumps of Mariscus. A mile inland from Pandora is a high point on which a radar station was located during the late War but the installations aro now abandoned. From here is seen one of the few forested areas of the Far North. In the valleys kauri is regenerating well while the associated trees such as Knightia, Rata, Taraire, Puriri, Hoheria, Melicytus and Fuchsia give quite a mosaic appearance to this forest community. This is due to the marked unevenness of the bush canopy and to the great variety of green shades present. Eastwards from Pandora, Spirits Bay sweeps away in a great curve almost eight miles in length. Towards its western end the Waitohora Stream enters the bay forming an extensive, shallow lagoon behind the beach. Zostera was plentiful on the muddy floor and on the wide sandy flats were the usual salt marsh herbs - Selliera, Samolus, Atriplex, with Cladium .junceum and Juncus maritimus in the saline bogs. Carex virgata was colonising the stagnant swamps further upstream. The Bay is backed by low clay hills covered in Danthonia pasture and manuka scrub which at the time of our visit was suffering its yearly burn. On an old Maori track over to Spirits Bay from Te Paki Station is a tall conical hill known as Rangitane. On its summit which was the~sTt~e~~of~sr pah, aeep~~~trench.es and food pits are still evident. Near here in the scrub were noted Epacris pauciflora, Pomaderris edgerleyi P. phylicaefolia, Leucopogon fraseri, Lepidosperma laterale, Corokia cotoneaster, Libertia ixioides and Lycopodium densum. At the eastern end of Spirits Bay a small stream enters the sea, the area being known as Kapowairua. Near hore the handsome Hibiscus diversifolius was originally discovered by Colenso, in 1839. Just to the east of Kapowairua is a rugged district of dome- shaped hills composed of basaltic conglomerate. The highest peak is known as Unuwhao (1063 ft.). On the southern face of this feature is a larger area of bush. This is of a very mixed character with no one tree being markedly dominant. There is a well marked stratification in this community. The emergent trees are over 50 ft. in height and these usually consist of isolated stands of kauri and a few pohutakawas. The main tree canopy between 20 ft. and 50 ft. is composed of Taraire, Mangaeo, Puriri, Kohekohe, Rewarewa and Leptospermum ericoides. Between 8 ft. and 20 ft. are found Hoheria, Suttonia, Schefflera, and Nikau with a few tree ferns. The lower shrub layer (3 ft. - 6 ft.) consists of Rangiora, numerous Coprosma spp., Freycinetia and many seedlings of "Hae main forest trees. The ground layer, below 3 ft., is relatively sparse with some ferns which include Leptopteris -hymenophylloides and mosses ' but few small tree seedlings. This open aspect of the lower layers ia due to the thinning out of the undergrowth by cattle. More palatable

50. species, like Macropiper, Schefflera, Colensoa and tree seedlings are reduced in numbers, while those which are hardier and less palatable persist and show a relative increaseincrease,, e.g. Rangiora, Freycinetia and Coprosma spp. On the whole, however, the Far North bush is little modified - virtually no timber has been felled for milling and little has been destroyed by burning. Pockets of bush do remain, away from the influence of animals. But the forest, as a whole, occupies only a very small area and it has a very fragmentary distribution. This relative absence of forest is due to the widespread occurrence of lithosols, very leached podsols and mineralised organic soils. The more important features distinguishing the forest of the extreme north from that to the south are the general lack of dominance, the relative abundance of Leptospermum ericoides and Hoheria, and the rarity of podocarps. The development of this forest in isolation during the later Tertiary period possibly explains these differences. It was much regretted that with the limited time at our disposal we were unable to travel further eastwards to North Cape proper and study its localised scrub vegetation. Perhaps this area will be visited during a further trip.

SUPPLEMENT TO SPECIES LIST FOR NOISES ISLAND (OTATA). - P.B. Hannken and C.B. Trevarthen.

This list is published as a supplementary list to the original in "Tane" Vol. 3. 1950. It is compiled from records made during visits with Botanical Society who published an account in "Newsletter" of June 1951, the Natural History Society, and with Field Club. Introduced plants are marked *

Lycopodium billardieri (1 plant) Epiphytic in Eastern Pohutukawa forest. FILICOPSIDA. Asplenium flaccidum var. littoralis (l.a.) Cliffs. Chielanthes sieberi (l.a.) Cliffs below Trig, C. (Nothoclaena) distans (l.a.) " " " Pteris macilenta (r) Melicytus forest. SPERMATOPSIDA. Gramineae. * Danthonia pilosa Fire clearing near Trig. Avena fatua (1) Slopes of Northern Cliffs, * Paspalum dilatatum It) Grassed areas. * Digitaria sanguinalis (o) Aizoaceae. Tetragonia expansa (o) Eastern cliffs. Violaceae. Melicytus ramiflorus (a) Dominant of eastern coastal forest (Omitted in error 1950) Thymeliaceae. Pimelia urvilleana (o) Coastal rock crevices. Araliaceae. Pseudopanax crassifolium var. trifoliatum A plant, strongly suspected to be this species, was found in Eastern Pohutukawa Forest. Orobanchaceae. •Orobanche minor (several) Grass near trig.