THE PROBLEMS OF ANTARCTIC PLANT LIFE. 19 



the point of extreme interest to be looked for is whether it will show near relationships 

 to the flora of the Crozets on the one hand, or to that of the Tristan da Cunha group 

 on the other, and it will be interesting to find out how far this Sandwich group flora 

 has evolved, and whether any new and distinct species have originated. The flora of 

 South Georgia has practically no relationship to that of Tristan da Cunha or Gough 

 Island, but a certain affinity with that of the Crozets and other islands to the east, 

 and with the Antarctic regions properly speaking : of its 93 species of mosses, 

 16 are also found in the Antarctic. Its Magellan affinities are more pronounced : 

 indeed, it seems probable, as Dr Skottsberg maintains (loc. cif.), that the flora is derived 

 entirely from Fuegia and the Falklands ; no species, he asserts, shows any other origin. 

 Yet considering its nearness to Fuegia, and the prevailing westerly winds, it is a matter 

 for wonder that more of the Fuegian species are not found there, and that the 

 proportion of endemic species should be so high in respect of mosses, viz. over 45 

 per cent., according to Dr Cardot's determinations. Among its 15 species of phanerogams 

 are none which are endemic, a fact not a little remarkable considering how, in similarly 

 isolated islands, such as Tristan da Cuuha and Gough Island, the endemic species and 

 varieties form a conspicuous element of the flora, while Kerguelen and other islands to 

 the east are also not wanting in this respect. Possibly the relative accessibility of 

 South Georgia to the Magellan Lands accounts for its want of peculiar species ; but if 

 this is so, the number of endemic mosses does not become easier of comprehension, nor 

 the paucity of phanerogams, since there are other Fuegian and Falkland species quite 

 suitable for South Georgian conditions and adapted for wind and bird transpersion. 



The affinities of the flora of the New Zealand group of sub-antarctic islands with 

 that of Fuegia, which Dr L. Cockayne and others have demonstrated, and to which 

 reference was made above, is another striking fact. Recent exploration undertaken by 

 the New Zealand Government has added much to our former knowledge of these 

 islands. 1 The whole flora of the Snares, the Aucklands, Campbell Island, the Antipodes, 

 and Macquarie Island, contains, as far as our present knowledge goes, 194 species of 

 flowering plants, among which there is a New T Zealand element of 133 species, an 

 endemic one of 53 species, and a Fuegian -South -Georgian -Kerguelen element of 

 8 species unknown in New Zealand. The New Zealand species are probably of com- 

 paratively recent introduction, and reached the islands since they were separated from 

 New Zealand. The endemic element shows in some cases New Zealand affinities, in 

 others none at all. The first part was no doubt derived from New Zealand in the long- 

 past ; the second part represents the relics of some older pre-glacial flora. The Fuegian 

 element has been introduced by wind and bird transport : with so small a percentage 

 of species this is quite likely. On the other hand, out of the 88 genera of phanerogams 

 in these islands, no less than 56 have representatives in Fuegia. This obviously points 

 to some most intimate link between the floras of these islands and that of Fuegia in the 



1 The Sub-antarctic Islands of New Zcalm/i!, C. Chilton, L. Cockayne, T. F. Cheesem.in, and others, Christchurcli, 

 N.Z.. I: 



