358 OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



much the same range of temperature, viz., 104°-32°F., but the rain- 

 fall is twice as great. The southern extremity of Patagonia, has 

 a harsh, but not extreme climate, comparable with that of the 

 extreme north of the British Islands. 



The greater part of Patagonia is a most forbidding semi-desert, 

 a sandy or stony broken plain, with scanty vegetation comprising 

 only the hardiest of plants. The scrubby bushes have small 

 leathery leaves, and are often hairy or sticky. Showy flowers are 

 almost wanting, weedy Compositae, plantain and verbenas being 

 among the characteristic plants. 1 



The southernmost part of Patagonia has much more rain, and 

 the climate is a moist, cloudy and windy one, with much less range 

 of temperature than the drier region to the northeast. The 

 stormy climate is not conducive to tree growth, but conditions 

 favor the development of a moorland vegetation. Tussock- 

 grasses (Poa fiabellata) form huge tufts over the dreary moorland, 

 and prostrate evergreen shrubs cover the ground in places. 2 



The flora of the Falkland Islands whose climate is even less 

 genial than that of the mainland, has been somewhat carefully 

 studied. 3 130 species of flowering plants have been described, of 

 which 26 are endemic. The ferns and mosses number 75, and the 

 algae and fungi, 173. The most conspicuous plants are the 

 tussock-grasses, and of the prostrate shrubs, two are notable, a 

 peculiar umbellifer (Azorella glebaria) and a myrtle (Myrtus 

 nummidaria). 



Fuegia 



The great Andean chain gradually diminishes in height as it 

 approaches the extreme southern part of the continent. The lower 

 slopes, and the adjacent coast receive much more rain than the 

 east coast of Patagonia, and the climate is much milder, so that 

 conditions are favorable for a relatively rich vegetation. The same 

 conditions prevail in Tierra del Fuego, across the Straits of Magel- 

 lan, and the Fuegian region develops a low scrub forest composed 

 mainly of the southern beeches (Nothofagus antarctica and N. bet- 

 uloides), with a dense undergrowth of shrubs and herbaceous 

 flowering plants, and a rich growth of ferns, mosses and lichens. 

 The Fuegian flora has a considerable number of species either 



1 Drude, loc. eit., 535. 2 Hardy, loc. cit., 162. 3 Drudc, loc. cit., 540. 



