310 Transactionc. — Botany. 



the forest region, even if meadow-plants. Tiiis classitication 

 is quite a rough one, for many plants are fouud in all kinds 

 of stations and at all kinds of altitudes. Placing the New 

 Zealand species after {a) and the New Zealand - Fuegian 

 after {h), the figures are: Coastal — (ci) 12, {h) 8 = 20 ; 

 forest— (a) 18, {h) 2 = 20 ; alpine and subalpine — (a) 28, 

 (h) 9 = 37. Thus, the mountain-plants are considerably in 

 excess of either of the other classes ; and this is more accen- 

 tuated when it is pointed out that the forest - plants are 

 in large measure plants of a forest which ascends to the 

 lower subalpine region, or is found usually, when at a 

 lower altitude, under such conditions as will permit the 

 growth of alpine plants at a low level — e.g., Stewart Island, 

 west coast of South Island, &c. Generally speaking, these 

 alpine plants are not amongst those most characteristic of 

 subalpine and alpine plant-formations. Certain genera, such 

 as Raoulia, Gcmltheria, Euphrasia, Ourisia, Pimelea, Fors- 

 tera, Gunnera, Wahlenbergid , and Coriaria, are altogether 

 wanting ; and of the numerous species of Celmisia, Otcoria, 

 Veronica, and Senecio none of the mountain forms extend to 

 the Southern Islands, where, however, they are represented 

 by one or two Southern Islands" endemic or New Zealand 

 coastal species. Of the more common mountain-plants com- 

 mon to New Zealand and the Soutliern Islands, it is an in- 

 teresting fact that they are frequently plants of New Zealand 

 alpine bogs, in certain places, however, in the south of the 

 South Island and in Stewart Island occurring also in bogs at 

 sea- level. Amongst these are Gainiardia ciliata and Gaim. 

 jjallida, Drosera stcvopetala, Orcoholus j^wmlio, Scir2JUs auck- 

 landicns, Cyathodes evipctrifoha, Ehrharta thomsoni, Garex 

 ternana (also frequent in lowland stations), and Juncus 

 scheuzerioides (see also Diels, 27, pp. 254:, 257). Some of 

 the alpine plants belong to the subalpine scrub— c.(/., Go- 

 proama cuneata, Draco2)hyllum longifoLiun, Drac. tirvilleanum* 

 Myrsine divaricata, Cassinia vanviUieysii. Coprosnia repens 

 is a very common subalpine meadow-plant, while Helichry- 

 suvi prostratum is by no means widespread, but its close 

 ally H. beilidioides is everywhere on the mountains. 



Having now briefly considered the elements of tlie flora, 

 we are led to inquire how did they reach a number of very 

 small islands not merely far away from any centre of dis- 

 tribution, but distant from one another some hundreds of 

 miles ; and, above all, how comes it that this group of islands 

 has nearly 19 per cent, of its flora composed of species — 

 twenty-six in ininiber — which occur in the southern part of 



• This is if we accept Kirk's ideutification of the species of Draco- 

 2'hyllum most common in the scrub of Campbell Island. 



