304 Carl S\ottsberg 



Zealand and another in Hawaii, and is represented in southern 

 South America by the monotypical and closely related Tepua- 

 lia. Of this genus, as of Coprosma and Lagenophora, we should 

 speak of an Antarctic-Australasian element which reaches 

 South America. There are several Antarctic-American genera, 

 such as Pernettya and F uchsia, "which, barely reach New Zealand. 



The plants discussed above thrive in the warm-temperate, 

 moist, and equable climate of the montane region in the mon- 

 soon and trade-wind zone. This is true of Astelia, Lagenophora, 

 Gunnera, Oreobolus, Uncinia, Nertera, Coprosma and, to some 

 degree, of Acaena, but many species of this genus live under 

 quite different conditions. Sophora, without being a pronounced 

 moisture-loving genus, shows great adaptability; this is espe- 

 cially true of the Hawaiian species. The conditions under which 

 the ancestors of these plants lived in Antarctica are, of course, 

 not known, but most likely they were not very different from 

 those prevailing in the montane region within the tropics, on a 

 lower level at higher latitudes, or even at sea level in subantarctic 

 regions. Unfortunately, no representatives of this component are 

 among the fossils known from Antarctic Tertiary beds, in which 

 a subtropical and a more temperate (Nothofagus) flora are 

 mixed (Dusen), a fact for which no entirely satisfactory ex- 

 planation has yet been offered. In the present flora, both in 

 Magellania and in New Zealand, Nothofagus species may be 

 said to belong to the same belt or belts as our Antarcto-Pacific 

 plants. Some of the ancestors of these latter certainly were fit to 

 be preserved as fossils, and we hope to discover them some day. 

 We may be quite sure that western Antarctica has not given up 

 more than a small part of its treasures. 



None of the genera spoken of here have what are called "im- 

 possible" fruits or seeds. Some, such as Edwardsia, cannot be 



