!8 93 . NOTES AND COMMENTS. 251 



Japanese. In North America the rocky mountains form a marked 

 dividing line, the species to the west and east being, though closely 

 allied, for the most part different. No true Conifers are found on the 

 Andes, though the range forms, as it were, a continuation of the Rocky 

 Mountains ; their place is taken by Podocarps and Taxads working 

 up from the south. Juniperus, Libocedms, and Pimis are the only true 

 Conifers found both north and south of the Equator, while among 

 Taxaceae, Podocarpus and Dacvydium occur in both subdivisions. 

 Junipers, cypresses, spruces, firs, and pines spread across the northern 

 hemisphere from west to east, but there is no such continuity in the 

 south among true Conifers, though Araucaria is common to Eastern 

 South America, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, and some of the South 

 Sea Islands. 



In the recent issue of the Trans, and Pvoc. Neiv Zealand Inst. (vol. 

 xxv., 1892) T. Kirk describes the heterostyly, or differences in length 

 of the style or stamens of flowers in relation to reciprocal fertilisation 

 in the New Zealand Fuchsias. Each of the three species, Fuchsia 

 excorticata, F. Colensoi, and F. procumbens, is trimorphic, having a long- 

 styled, mid-styled, and short-styled form. The arrangements for 

 cross-fertilisation are much .'ess complicated than in our own purple 

 Loosestrife {Lythrum salicaria) as the long-styled flowers are, at any 

 rate in the first two species, practically female, the pollen-grains being 

 abortive. 



The three forms of Fuchsia excorticata grow intermixed, usually 

 in about the same proportion, wherever the plant is plentiful, the 

 long-styled form producing the largest quantity of fruit, a fact which, 

 it is suggested, is largely due to the application of pollen from both 

 the mid- and short-styled forms. This assumption is supported by 

 the great reduction in the quantity of fruit on the long-styled form 

 in the few observed cases where one of the others appeared to be 

 absent. The author knows of no instance of the different forms 

 of F . procumbens growing intermixed ; only one being found in any 

 one locality. This, he says, may well account for the fact that the 

 handsome fruit of this species has not been seen in the wild state. 

 The mid- and short-styled forms are often cultivated, but were never 

 seen in the same garden. Under these conditions although most 

 frequently sterile, they do occasionally fruit. Hence it is inferred that 

 each form of flower is almost sterile with its own pollen. 



Dr. E. v. Halacsy spent last June in a botanical exploration 

 of some of the North Peloponnesian mountains, and his collections 

 may be expected to yield results of interest. The characteristic 

 elements of the different plant formations were noted, and the upper 

 and lower limits of the vegetative zones determined. Of special 

 interest is the discovery of a Berberidaceous plant on the northern 



