s.A. liRvoi'in r\. 389 



has many species extending;- as far south a> Madao^ascar and \n- 

 .t;ola, Imt none have yel been reported frLini South Africa- 



(D) African Spfaies. — It has already been shown that the 

 African moss flora is composed of a considerable admixture of 

 plants of the distinctively Northern type with ])lants of the dis- 

 tinctively Southern type, and just as tlie Northern type has ex- 

 tended southv\ard throughout .\frica. si) the Southern type has 

 extended northward as far as the C'ameroons and Abyssinia. 



It is remarkal)le, houever. tliat Africa, though it has \er}- 

 mail} endemic specie>, has \ery few endemic (/ciuva. the onl}' 

 ones which occur io me as Ijelonging to South Africa being 

 Wardia and Ischyrodon, endemic to South Africa, and Rcuaitldia 

 and C'o!cocluctiiiii! common to South and Central Africa. 



Although man\' non-endemic species are widely distributed in 

 -Africa, the number of African endemic species known to be 

 ctmimon to South Africa and other ])arts of Africa or its islands 

 is still comparatively small: no doubt this will chanye consider- 

 ably as the limitations of the species are better known, and as tlie 

 Rryophyta of Africa are further studied. 



Among such s])ecies known meantime are : — 



Fogonatum siiiiciisc. Prioiiodoii Rcluiianni. 



PolyfricJiiiiii armatiun. Rauia ahbrcviaia, 



SchistoniitriiDii acufifoliitin , Porotliaiiniiimi pcutucfonnc. 



Lcf'todonfiitin cpinu'tafiini. Rciropothcciitni rcgiilarc. 



Macroiiiiti'iiiiii Drcijci, I 'csiciilaria spliacrocarpn. 



Cryphtva c.vif/iia. Xcckrra ! 'alciiti)iiaiia, 



lu-podiiuii c/rossircfc. Hypoptcrxf/ium lariciniiiii. 



I'lrpodiinn Hainiiiu/foiu, Rhacopiluiii cupciisc. 



Rcnauldla Hoclniclli. Rhodohryum iimbraciilnni. 

 f'rachyiiicniiiiii pulchntm. 



(K) South Afrtcan Spfciks. — Although what constitutes 

 a f/c)ius is alwavs open to debate, the only two (jciicia 1 think of 

 meantime as endemic to Smith .Vfrica are Ischyrodon and 

 IFardia. Isclixrodon is closelv related to Fabronia and to other 

 South African members of Fabroniacccc \ but IFardia h\(/ro- 

 mctn'ca Harv. is one of the remarkable imzzles in geograi)hical 

 Ixitany. It occurs only on and in the neighbourhood of Table 

 Mountain, wdiere it is abundant on rocks in running streams, and 

 l^elongs to the aquatic family Foiitinalacecc, which is well repre- 

 sented in many parts of the Northern Hemisj^here, extending as 

 far south as Algeria and Abyssinia, but, except Wardia, the 

 only member of the famil\ known from the Southern Hemi 

 sphere is one very different plant from Venezuela. When aiu. 

 how these two plants originated is even more difficult to co'ii- 

 jecture than is the history of most others. 



Of South African endemic species, as meantime accepted 

 (in comparative ignorance oi many of them), the list is enorm- 

 ous, but there can be no doul)t but that many will eventually be 

 sunk as synonyms, or merged as forms or varieties i'nto nK>re 

 widely distributed .species. This process is going on slowly. 



