600 standley: a remarkable new geranium 



branching corals is nearly the same for both regions, but the 

 growth of the massive forms in the Pacific appears to be appreci- 

 ably more rapid than that of similar forms in the Atlantic. 

 Therefore it seems probable that in the coral reef regions of the 

 Pacific and Indian oceans a reef 150 feet thick may form under 

 favorable conditions in less than 6000 years. According to 

 Gardiner such a reef might form in 1000 years. 



As the disappearance of the Wisconsin ice sheet is estimated 

 to have been between 10,000 years ago in Scandinavia and 

 Alaska and 40,000 years ago at Niagara, the data presented show 

 that there has been ample time for the development of any 

 known living reef since deglaciation. That Recent off-shore 

 reefs have been formed either during or immediately subsequent 

 to Recent submergence may be accounted established. That 

 deglaciation was an important factor in this submergence can 

 scarcely be doubted, but there are other factors which have 

 not yet been evaluated. 



BOTANY. — A remorkahle new Geranium from Venezuela. Paul 

 C. Standley, U. S. National Museum. ^ 



The Geranium here described as new is of unusual interest 

 as affording an additional evidence of the relationship which 

 exists between the flora of the Hawaiian Islands and that of 

 tropical North and South America. This relationship has long 

 been known to botanists, being mentioned by Hillebrand in his 

 Flora of the Hawaiian Islands, ^ and discussed in some detail by 

 Alfred Russel Wallace in his "Island Life. "^ The affinities be- 

 tween the floras of these widely separated regions are best shown, 

 perhaps, in the family Asteraceae: several of the genera occur- 

 ring in Hawaii are represented also in tropical and subtropical 

 North and South America, and most of the species of other 

 genera are closely related to American plants. In other groups, 

 also, the relationship is well shown. Hawaii possesses species 

 of Gunnera, Phyllostegia, Fragaria, Sisyrinchium, Rubus, Dau- 



1 Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 



2 Page XXIX. 



3 Pages 300-30G. 



