Rawhiti Cave become increasingly finer deeper down into the cave. A short walking track leads halfway down into the cavernous opening to a viewing platform. The diverse twilight-zone flora near the entrance of Rawhiti Cave makes this cave nationally significant. Over long periods of time, plant growth on the cave formations causes them to grow towards the sunlight as more calcium carbonate is deposited regularly on top of the plant growth. This phenomenon, called phytokarst, is most evident on the larger stalactites near the cave entrance, which are strongly curved outwards due to the heavy moss and fern growth on their sunlit
Anthodite of a cactus or thistle plant. In its composite stalagmite form, frostwork may possess spiny limbs like a miniature fir tree. The term was first used by cave guides at Wind Cave in South Dakota, USA, during the 1890s to describe speleothems which looked like ice “frostwork”. Anthodite Anthodites (Greek ἄνθος "ánthos", “flower”, "-ode", adjectival combining form, "-ite" adjectival suffix) are speleothems (cave formations) composed of long needle-like crystals situated in clusters which radiate outward from a common base. The "needles" may be quill-like or feathery. Most anthodites are made of the mineral aragonite (a variety of calcium carbonate, CaCO),