FROM THE FALKLAND ISLANDS. 151 
subantarctic zone is irregular and does not follow a parallel of latitude. 
In longitude 60° E. it occurs at about 45? S. ; in South America, where the 
Straits of Magellan form the boundary-line, it is 53° S. (бее map in Gain, 
'12, р. 106.) In spite of this, however, Fuegia and the Falklands are less 
affected by ice than the other localities. 
‘Madame Lemoine in her paper on the * Pourquoi Pas’ Melobesieæ (713) 
adopts the same northern boundary, but does not distinguish a subantarctic 
division, the whole area within the limit of floating ice being termed by her 
the “ Antarctic Region.” This she divides by longitude, and distinguishes 
three regions corresponding to the continents or oceans with which the islands 
are more or less connected, namely, South American (or South Atlantic), 
South Indian, and South Australian. These divisions are convenient both 
from a geographical and also from a botanical standpoint, and they will be. 
adopted in the present survey of the cryptogamic flora, though we will 
maintain at the same time the antarctic and subantarctic regions as defined 
above. 
In considering the relationships of the cryptogamic flora of our islands, 
it is the marine alge which will come most prominently before us. 
Compared with the other groups, these have been both more largely collected 
and more carefully studied. The lichens follow, and in the case of Fuegia 
and Kerguelen are well known. For the fungi, on the other hand, few data 
are available. On wind-swept islands fleshy species are scarce and few 
collectors have searched for microscopic forms, which, even were they known, 
are not yet of much value for comparative purposes. 
With regard to the three divisions of the subantarctic region, the Southern, 
American is easily first, and, except for microscopic species, we have now a, 
tolerably thorough knowledge of all cryptogams from this area. Lengthy 
lists of Magellan plants have been published, though in several genera 
considerable revision is necessary. The same cannot be said of the South 
Indian or South Australian divisions ; indeed, the need of further material 
from these areas, and the necessity of a thorough revision of the older records, 
has been very evident during the working out of the present collections. 
Of Kerguelen, it is true, our knowledge has increased of late, and Laing’s 
paper (09) has helped with regard to the algæ of the New Zealand sub- 
antarctic islands, but very. many plants doubtless remain to be detected and 
numerous obscure points need to be cleared up. 
The following remarks therefore deal only with the broad outlines, and not 
exact statistics. So far as the Falkland Islands themselves are concerned, 
the lists should be fairly correct. In the case of the marine alge an effort 
was made, by means of the examination of original material and of type- 
specimens, to bring about this end, and to a lesser extent the same applies to 
the lichens and fungi. 
