DR. O. STAPF ON THE FLORA OF MOUNT KINABALU 101 
them extend at the same time to the Antarctic region, and through it to temperate 
South America and the Andine region. They may be classified into 3 groups :— 
a. Angiospermous Elements extending across the Antarctic Region. 
Drimys piperita. Nertera depressa. 
Myrtus flavida. Pratia borneensis. 
Coprosma crassicaulis. Gaultheria borneensis. 
C. Hookeri. 
Drimys piperita seems to be very characteristic of the ridge-vegetation of Borneo and 
of East Malaya, and it is also known from the Philippines. The genus is represented 
by several species in New Caledonia, Australia, and New Zealand, and by some—though 
opinions vary much as to their number—in America, where it ranges from the extreme 
south along the Andes to Mexico. The nearest allies in Australia grow in humid 
forests up to a considerable elevation, and most—if not all—of the remaining species are 
distinctly hygrophilous. Coprosma crassicaulis and C. Hookeri are closely allied to 
certain species from New Zealand and South-east Australia, all of them being most 
decidedly hygrophilous. This genus as defined at present does not extend to South 
America, though one species is known from Juan Fernandez and another from the 
Antarctic Islands south of New Zealand. It is replaced in South America by the genus 
Nertera, which differs from Coprosma only in the mode of growth. Nertera extends 
also over the Antarctic region and Australia and New Zealand to the Malay Archipelago, 
and the commonest species, JV. depressa, is amongst the Kinabalu plants. It is also 
typically hygrophilous. Pratia borneensis is a close congener of P. (§Colensoa) physa- 
loides, Hemsl., a herb growing in shady woods in the subtropical parts of New Zealand, 
the two species forming together a very natural section of the genus. This section does 
not extend to America, but another section, Hu-Pratia, numbers several species in 
Extra-tropical South America, whilst the remainder is confined to New Zealand and 
Malaya, except one species peculiar to Malaya and the mainland of Asia as far as the 
Himalaya and South China. A third section, Speirema, is distributed (in a single 
species) from Malaya to the Himalayan region. All these species are, so far as I 
could ascertain, hygrophilous, the small species of $ Eu-Pratia growing in wet soil, 
particularly along rivers and streamlets, and § Speirema in shady and humid forests. 
One of the little species of $ Eu-Pratia, the Indo-Malayan P. begoniefolia, occurs also 
occasionally as a weed in cultivation, and I infer the same for P. ($ Speirema) montana 
from a note on a label attached to a specimen of it. Gaultheria borneensis approaches 
closely to G. antipoda, a species inhabiting the mountains of Tasmania and very 
common in New Zealand, where it descends sometimes to the sea-shore. Several more 
species are known from Australia and New Zealand, a few from the Indo-Malayan region, 
and there is the great bulk of the genus spread over America from the extreme south to 
Oregon, but not one of the Indo-Malayan species is by any means so closely allied to, 
G. borneensis as is G. antipoda. Although not dependent on perpetually moist soil or on 
the shady shelter of woods, G. antipoda might yet be considered in a certain sense as a 
SECOND SERIES.—BOTANY, VOL. Iv. P 
