The natural vegetation of the area includes the podocarp conifers including rimu "(Dacrydium cupressinum)", miro "(Prumnopitys ferruginea)", matai "(Prumnopitys taxifolia)", totara "(Podocarpus totara)" and kahikatea "(Dacrycarpus dacrydioides)" and hardwoods that once covered this whole area before the eruption of Taupo and other volcanoes. To the west of the three large volcanoes, the land is rough forested hill country, while the north close to Lake Taupo is more fertile and undulating and much has been cleared for farming. The forest used to extend to the west coast and there are still patches of natural vegetation in wetlands including the Horowhenua floodplains.