6 CARL SKOTTSBERG, (Schwed. Südpolar-Exp. 



partly accounts for the sparseness of the tundra-meadow and the predominance of 

 moss- and lichen -tundra. 



A climate like that of South Georgia greatly favours the formation of peat. 

 Species of Sphagnum, always comparatively rare in subantarctic lands, are entirely 

 absent, but peatforming representatives of Polytrichum, Dicranum a. o. constitute 

 one of the most prominent features of land vegetation. The two most important 

 phanerogams, Poa flabellata and Festuca erecta, also give rise to a kind of peat. 



In a paper entitled "Det arktiske og antarktiske Chamaephytklima", Raun- 

 KIAER has also dealt with South Georgia. He comes to the conclusion, that the 

 antarctic (= subantarctic) and arctic regions are characterised by a "chamaephyte- 

 climate" for in the "biological spectrum" chamaephytes constitute more than 20 % 

 of all growth-forms. Raunkiaer has already pointed out that there is a great dif- 

 ference between such climates as that of South Georgia and of Greenland or Spitz- 

 bergen, but thinks that it is anyhow the subantarctic one that, on the southern 

 hemisphere, most resembles the arctic climate. However, the climate of the Ant- 

 arctic continent bears greater resemblance and I think the difference between the 

 others mentioned is very great indeed: they represent quite different types. As it 

 is true that subantartic lands show a high percentage of chamaephytes, they may be 

 said to possess a chamaephyte climate, but I do not think that one can speak of 

 the chamaephyte climate. 



Of subantarctic lands South Georgia perhaps resembles the Arctic regions more 

 than do the others, for instance the Falklands. Here the much less pronounced 

 periodicity in vegetative phenomena is especially striking, there is a very large pro- 

 portion of evergreen species that keep fresh and vigorous throughout the winter, 

 with or without a protective snow-cover. There are all sorts of chamaephytes, of 

 caespitose habit, cushion-plants, dwarf-shrubs, perennial herbs with creeping rhizomes 

 or forming dense mats, etc. Most of them show what has generally been explained 

 as a pronounced xerophytic structure. They cannot count on a prolonged rest in 

 the winter as can Arctic plants; after some days with snowstorms and slight frost 

 may follow others when the soil is thawed and the plants are awakened to life for 

 a short time. This is certainly a characteristic of great importance, but if we try 

 to illustrate the phytographical features of the Falklands or South Georgia by the aids 

 of Raunkiaer's method, we hardly get any idea of it. Tierra del Fuego, South 

 Georgia, Kerguelen, Greenland, Artie North America etc., all show more or less the 

 same spectrum, with a high percentage of chamaephytes and hemicryptophytes. 

 But how widely different are the evergreen rain forest of Tierra del Fuego and the 

 Arctic tundra! Truly, as Raunkiaer himself remarks, a certain difference is shown 

 by the presence of some percentage of phanerophytes in the first case. But, if 

 we take the Falklands, there are no trees and but few bushes; in spite of that, 



