3'^^> S.A. BRN()I"1[YTA. 



nmy not prove di.slinct. and which niav "V mav not ^liow wide 

 distribution on fuller knowdedg'e. 



The number, as also the relative proportion, of endemic 

 -pecies cannot be satisfactorily discussed until the aihove dottbt- 

 ful factors are cleared up, nor is it advisable meaiUime to deal 

 ni detail with the many forms so closely related to exotics as to 

 be practically the local representatives of these species, but 

 ])OSS,essed of certain minor characters, pre->ent locally and al)sent 

 elsewhere. 



I have, in a |)re\'ious paper to this .Vssociation,* pointed 

 out. in relatitvn to the Hepaticae, the almost cosmoyxilitan 

 distribution (under suitable conditions of climate and moisture) 

 of all ;the larger orders and genera of that group, and that it 

 reall}- depends on how wide or narrow a view one takes of what 

 co'ustitutes a species, whether the distribution is world-wide or 

 almost parochial ; and as relationship, together with ]>resumably 

 recent and still unstable local variation, exists there in many 

 ' 'r most cases, I have, in dealing with the general geographical 

 ilistribution in the ])resent pai)er, referred more j^articularly to 

 the mosses, though the He]>atic?e are also used in the sul)sefjuent 

 discussion. 



I would. h(»we\er, repeat here that some tropical genera of 

 liepaticcC have not so far been recorded from South Aifrica, 

 and that there is a scarcity of certain conduplicate-leaved, cold- 

 region forms (Scapania. Lophosia. etc.). which forms may still 

 be found in our mountain streams. 



(lEiXKKAL (iKOta-tAlMlU AL Dl STRTBUTTO^T. 



The relation of South .Vfrican Bryophyta to that of other 

 •))arts of the world takes the followinu' aspects:— 



(A) Cos.Moi'OLiTAx Forms, more or less frequent; in sint- 

 jhle localities on each Continent. — In regard to orders and 

 genera, most oif the larger groups are represented, except as 

 restricted under (B) and (C). But in regard to identical species, 

 the number is so small that the following list may include most 

 ■ >f them : — 



Polytrichntn connniine. Bryunt argenteuin. 



Polytrichum iitniperinnni. Bryum capiUare. 



Ceratodon pitrpnreurn. Bryum torquescens. 



iirinimia apocarpa. Hedwigla eillata. 



Tortula muralis. Leptodon Sinitliil. 



I'Veisiei- viridula. Stereodon cuprcssifonnis. 



fhtnaria hygrometrica. Sphagnum (as a genus j. 



Mniobryitin albicans. Dumorticra hirsiifa. 



Mninm rostratnm. Riccia fluitans. 



Rlccia natans. 



* " HepatictT." Rept. S.A. Assn. for Ach-. of Science, Pretoria (1915), 

 426-447- 



