Vol. XVI. No. 39l'. 



THE AGEICULTUHAL N^EWS. 



131 



THE PLANTS AND ANIMALS OF 

 NEW CALEDONIA 



The principal reason why New Caledonia, the largest 

 inland (except New Zealand) in the Snuth Pacific, appeals to 

 the biologist, is because it is exceedingly rich in species, and 

 even in genera which occur in no other part of the world. 

 This is not so in the West Indian islands, where most of 

 the species of plants and animals are exotic. The general 

 features of the island receive attention in the Geographi- 

 cal Juurnal for February 1917, in the form of a paper by 

 Pi. H. Compton, M.A , of C'ambriilge, who with Mr. P. ]). 

 Montague, spent the whole of 1914 in making zoological and 

 botanical collections, and general geographical investigations 

 in this most interesting French colony. 



Economically New Caledonia is renowned for its miner- 

 als, being very rich in nickel, chi'ome, cobalt, and iron. From 

 a scientific point of view, it is the living characteristics of 

 the i-sland which present features of the greatest interest, and 

 these are dealt with at considerable length in the paper under 

 notice. 



On the whole, the soil of New Caledonia is not particu- 

 larly fertile. The cultivation of many different crops 

 has been attempted, but most success has attended the cultiva- 

 tion of coffee and maize. Considerable areas are also under 

 coco-nuts. Nevertheless, the agricultural resources of the 

 country cannot be considered properly deve'oped; the mine- 

 ral products constitute the most valuable articles of export. 



FLOK.v. The flora of New Caledonia is large and varied, 

 and presents many exceptional features. Not only is it rich 

 in species, but the proportion of endemic forms is exception- 

 ally high. Exact figures arc wanting at present, but the 

 endemism extends to numerous genera, and to one group, 

 the Balanop.sidaes, which is considered by Engler as a distinct 

 Order. The families which contain the highest number of 

 species are the following: — 



Iiubiaceae 169, Orchidaceae 152, Myrtaceae 142, 

 Euphorbiaceae 120, Apocyuaceae 97, Araliaceae 89, Saxifra- 

 gaceae 88, Leguminosae 79, Gramineae 75, Ilutaceae 58, 

 Sapindaceae 53, >Sapotaceae 51, Myrsinaceae 17, Proteaceao 

 44, Cyperaceae 40, Artocarpaceae 37, and Compositae 34. 



The most striking feature .shown by this list is the 

 position of the Legumincsae, Compositae, and (iramineae 

 These three families, which are dominant in almost ail the 

 local floras of the world, here occupy a very low position on 

 the list. This peculiarity is emphasized by the fact that the 

 great majority of the representatives of these families in 

 New Caledonia are of alien origin, and are indeed plants of 

 economic imDortance and cosmopolitan weeds of the tropical 

 and sub-tropical zone. For instance, of the seventj-five 

 Gramineae only about half a dozen are native. The majority 

 of the Compositae are plants with easily distributed seeds 

 which have arrived accidentally with imports, and the 

 Leguminosae include a number of culinary and other u.seful 

 plants. The absence of these families is especially notice- 

 able in the .serpentine districts, where the alien flora has 

 made comparatively little inroad; the Compositae, for instance, 

 are represented by a single s[iecies, which occurs sparsely at 

 3,000 feet altitude. 



When we consider the large indigenous families, we 

 notice that the main affinities of the flora are twofold. On 

 the one hau' I, certain families occur in great variety which 

 are of the Indo Malay type; such are the Rubiaceae, Euphor- 

 biaceae, Sapotaceae, and Artocarpaceae. Other smaller 

 families with the same geographical affinities are the Nepen- 

 thaceae and Chloranthaceae; while the New Caledonian 

 members of the ( )rchidaceae, I'almaceae, and Pandanaceae 

 are more closely allied to the Indo-Malayan sub-families than 

 to those of other neighbouring rcuions. 



On the other hand, wo h.ive equally clear relations with 

 the flora of South- Fast Australia. The Myrtaceae with 

 capsular fruits are veiy abundant constituents of the 

 flora. (The Myrtaceae with fleshy fruits, which are 

 pan-tropical with many species in Indo-Malaya, are alsi 

 present in New Caledonia in plenty.) The Proteaceae 

 number no fewer than forty-four, showing the clearest 

 reUtionship with Australia, the Indo-Malay genus Helicia 

 being unrepresented. The Epacridaceae (20 spp.), I'illenia- 

 ceae (21 spp.), llutaceae (5S spp.), CJoodeniaceae (4 spp ), and 

 others also bear out the connexion, particularly with the 

 flora of New South Wales. 



It is noteworthy that the Indo-Malayan elements of 

 the flora are chiefly represented in the forest regions, and the 

 Australian elements in the scrub and savannah regions. 

 Schlechter's division of the island into a north region with 

 Indo-Malayan floristic affinities, and a .south region with 

 Australian affinities .seems to depend on the dominance of 

 forest in the north, and of scrub and .savannah in the south. 

 The littoral zone is related floristically to the Pacific area in 

 general, and need not be further discussed here. 



A consideration of the flora leads to the conclusion, 

 supported by other lines of evidence, that New Caledonia is 

 a very ancient land mass and has been separated from con- 

 tinental areas for a very long period, the date of separation 

 apparently preceding the period in which the Compositae, 

 Gramineae, and Papilionaceac were evolved and distributed 

 over the earth's surface. That a land connexion previously 

 existed appears to be certain from the wholesale nature of 

 the resemblances of the flora to its distant neighbours, and 

 from the fact that the majority of native New Caledonian 

 plants have no natural distributive mechanisms which would 

 account for their transportation over wide spaces of sea. 



FAUNA. The most striking feature of the fauna is the 

 almost complete ab.sence of mammals. The only representa- 

 tives of this group native to the island are the bats and 

 flying-foxes (among which may be specially mentioned 

 a species witli a distinct tail), a rat and a pig, the latter two • 

 apparently dating from prehistoric times. An East Indian 

 stag has been introduced, and is now locally abundant. 



There are no marsupials nor amphibians, though the 

 French have introduced species of frog. Land snakes are 

 absent, but lizards are repre.semed by several species of 

 skink and gecko, including one of exceptional size. The 

 birds are not numerous in species but contain representatives 

 of most of the families. The kagou {Rhyiwchetus 

 Juhatus), is perhaps the most remarkable; its systematic 

 position has been extremely doubtful. It has larjie, well- 

 developed wings, but is entirely flightless It can easily be 

 captured by dogs, and (or this reason is rapidly diminishing 

 in numbers. 



Among the insects the < )rthoptera are represented by 

 a remarkable variety of Mantids and Phasmids, and the 

 Hemiptera, Diptera, and Coleoptera are also represented by 

 large numbers of forms, but the Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera 

 comprise comparatively few sprcies. On the whole, there seems 

 to be a lack of insects which depend for locomotion exclusively 

 on flight, ilyriapoda, spiders, and scorpions are all represented 

 in some variety. 



The fauna in general, like the flora, shows features^ 

 which may be correlated with long isolation, viz the great 

 development of certain peimliar genera, often of a primitive 

 type, the large lacunae in the series, and the high degree of 

 endemism The geographical relationships are, on the whole, 

 with the New Hebrides, East .Australia and thi' Indo-Malayaa 

 regions. 



