Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/35

Rh in the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, number nearly a hundred and fifty. His most important completed work is "The Forest Flora of New Zealand," issued in 1889. Its primary object was to diffuse a knowledge of the forest resources of the colony and to describe the chief methods of timber working and conversion. It contains much information on the economic value and uses of the New Zealand timbers, together with descriptions of the species, and is illustrated with 150 plates. In 1894 he was commissioned by the New Zealand Government to prepare a Flora of the colony, a work for which he had long been collecting material, and for which his wide personal knowledge of the vegetation of the country gave him exceptional qualifications. He entered upon the work with characteristic energy and ardour; but, unfortunately, his health gradually failed, and after several serious illnesses he died in March, 1897. That portion of his work which was in a sufficiently complete state at the time of his death, comprising the Polypetalæ, and the Monopetalæ as far as the Compositæ, was issued from the Government Printing Press in 1899. Although printed without the advantage of the author's supervision, and without the introductory and supplementary matter usually given in such publications, it shows very clearly the loss which botanical science has suffered through his decease, and all students will regret that he did not live to complete the work for which he had made so many preparations.

I do not propose to say anything in regard to my own researches into the flora, beyond stating that they have extended continuously from the year 1870 to the present time, and include an examination of almost the whole colony, from the Kermadec Islands and the North Cape to Otago. A list of my papers on botanical subjects will be found in Mr. Hamilton's Bibliography, printed in Vol. xxxvi. of the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute (pp. 342–72).

In the years 1874 and 1875 Dr. Sven Berggren, of the University of Lund, Sweden, made an extended visit to New Zealand, travelling through the greater portion of both Islands, and making large collections, especially of cryptogams. The new species of flowering-plants were described and beautifully illustrated in a memoir published in 1877 in the Proceedings of the University of Lund. The Algæ have been worked out by Dr. Nordstedt and the late Professor J. G. Aghard, while scattered memoirs relating to other orders of cryptogams have been published from time to time by Dr. Berggren himself.

From 1875 to the present time many important contributions to our knowledge of the flora of the colony have been made by Mr. D. Petrie, formerly Chief Inspector of Schools for Otago, and now holding a similar position in Auckland. During a residence of more than twenty years in Otago he sedulously investigated the vegetation of the eastern, central, and southern portions of the province, ascending many of the mountains, and forming large collections, especially