42 
Of the two Papuan species in Buckhousia, another of the so-called 
Australian endemic genera, one was described by Ridley from Mt. Carstensz, 
to which a second, one of the commonest trees in the Arfak, is now added. 
Both have normal calyx-lobes, while the Australian species show a secondary 
petaloid development of the lobes, evidently derived in character, though 
previously considered a generic distinction. 
The same case may be quoted for Didiscus, where the older types, 
according to the Monographer,! showing a normal calyx, occur in Malaya 
and New Guinea, with one species in N. Australia, whereas those with 
aborted calyx-lobes, by far the most numerous, are known from the rest of 
that continent, with one species from some Polynesian Islands. 
Further evidence is also forthcoming in interesting new records of 
genera not previously known from New Guinea, namely, Hibbertia, hitherto 
considered Australian and New Caledonian; Centrolepis, abundant at 7000’ 
and 9000’, connects New Guinea with the open summit of Kinabalu in 
N. Borneo at 13,000’, Mt. Halcon in the Philippines at 7000’, and 8. China 
on the one hand, and Australia and New Zealand on the other; while the 
genus Patersonia, supposed on inadequate knowledge to be endemic Australian, 
shows the same distribution, with the exception of 8. China, and now in- 
cludes three very distinct Malayan mountain types. 
In the case of species, Gahnia psittacorum, abundant everywhere in the 
Arfak from 7000’, is the first record for Malaya of a plant widely distributed 
in KE. Australia to Tasmania. 
2. WIDE DISTRIBUTION IN NEW GUINEA OF ENDEMIC 
MOUNTAIN TYPES. 
In considering questions bearing on the phytogeography of New Guinea, 
as a whole, it is important to take into consideration the fact that it is a 
country of 786,000 km. in area (23, i. 14,1), most of which is mountainous in 
character and undisturbed in condition. A huge region of vast ranges, in — 
which all intercourse between the relatively few and scattered inhabitants 
is not only restricted by natural barriers, but also by the many different 
languages, no two tribes having a common speech, even when living in 
apparent proximity on the same range of mountains. Both these facts have 
effectually debarred outside penetration into the mysterious back-country. 
Though our knowledge of the plant-covering of these mountains is 
extremely limited, such phytogeographical exploration so far accomplished 
points, as would be expected under such virgin conditions, to the homogeneity 
and stability of the flora as a whole. This fact is evinced in the pronounced 
_endemism and wide distribution throughout the whole country, further 
‘ Domin, K., “Monographie ‘der Gattung Didiscus (DC.).” Sitz. Kén. bohm. Ges. d. 
Wiss. ii. Cl. (1908) 21. 
