The Vegetation of New Zealand

An extensive study from 1928, based on years of research in the field, of the plant life of New Zealand.

Leonard Cockayne (Author)

9781108032384, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 September 2011

582 pages, 87 b/w illus. 3 maps
24.4 x 17 x 3 cm, 0.92 kg

When botanist Leonard Cockayne (1855–1934) first received an invitation from the German publisher Engelmann to write an account of the botany of New Zealand, much of it was still unknown. He spent the period from 1904 to 1913 immersed in fieldwork, and his first edition was not published until 1921. In this 1928 second edition Cockayne extensively updates the text, adding the results of further research from the intervening years. This work gives detailed descriptions of New Zealand's plant life, but Cockayne also considers the history of botanical study of the islands, from Captain Cook's voyages in the eighteenth century onwards, and includes the arrival of colonial plant collectors and an overview of important publications by New Zealand botanists. The descriptions of vegetation cover the sea coast, the lowlands, mountains, and outlying islands, and there are extensive photographs, offering a comprehensive guide to New Zealand's botany.

Preface
Preface to the second edition
Part I. Introduction: 1. Preliminary remarks
2. History of botanical investigation
3. Bibliography
4. Sketch of the leading physiographical features of the region
5. The climate of New Zealand
Part II. The Vegetation of Primitive and Semi-Primitive New Zealand: Section I. The Vegetation of the Sea-Coast: 1. General observations on the coastal-vegetation
2. The leading physiognomic plants and their life-forms
3. The autecology of the coastal plants
4. The plant communities
Section II. The Vegetation of the Lowlands and Lower Hills: 1. Introductory remarks
2. The leading physiognomic plants and their life-forms
3. The autecology of the lowland plants
4. The plant committee
Section III. The Vegetation of the High Mountains: 1. General remarks
2. The leading physiognomic plants and their life-forms
3. The autecology of the high-mountain plants
4. The plant communities
Section IV. The Vegetation of the Outlying Islands: 1. The vegetation of the Kermadee Islands
2. The vegetation of the Chatham Islands
3. The vegetation of the subantarctic islands
Part III. The Effect of Settlement upon the Plant-Covering of New Zealand: 1. The introduced plants growing wild without cultivation
2. The new vegetation
3. Agriculture and horticulture in New Zealand
Part IV. The Flora of New Zealand, its Distribution and Composition: 1. The botanical subdivisions of the region
2. The families, genera and elements of the flora
Part V. The History of the Flora: General
The problematical history of the flora
Index.

Subject Areas: Botany & plant sciences [PST]