13] VEGETATIONAL TYPES OF POLAR LANDS 419 



bays, while, inland, three Lichens have been reported from snow- 

 free rocks of the Queen Maud Mountains within 237 nautical miles 

 of the Geographical South Pole. Samples of snow collected here- 

 abouts yielded seven different species of Bacteria ; but in general 

 we can describe the interior of x'Vntarctica as almost devoid of 

 macroscopic vegetation, and supporting precious little microscopic 

 growth or even life. 



In the wide seas that surround the Antarctic Continent, there are 

 scattered islands and archipelagos whose low summer temperatures 

 and vegetational characteristics indicate polar affinities. They 

 include Kerguelen Island in about lat. 49° S. and long. 70° E., whose 

 barren appearance is widely attributed to very stormy drying winds 

 coupled with the low temperature of the ground. The vegetation 

 is largely dominated by Azorella selago and to a lesser extent by 

 Acaena adscendens, the former often determining the general appear- 

 ance of the landscape in sheltered situations in the interior. Thus 

 in otherwise desert-like areas it may form tussocks up to | a metre 

 high and i metre wide. In some places an almost continuous, 

 swarded tundra of these and other plants may be developed, and some 

 slopes may be more or less green, as may be damp depressions. The 

 prevailing winds being westerly, it is chiefly on the sheltered east- 

 facing slopes that the most luxuriant vegetation develops. Here the 

 Azorelta tussocks have associated Acaena, Agrostis antarctica, and 

 Lycopodium saururus, which tend to overgrow them chiefly from 

 the eastern side, while blocks of rock may be largely covered with 

 Lichens such as Neuropogon spp. — again most luxuriantly on their 

 eastern sides. 



In suitable situations on Kerguelen the Azorella or other 

 ' cushions ' tend to coalesce to form a continuous cover which in 

 the most favoured ' oases ' may be replaced by almost pure Acaena. 

 Species associated with the Azorella are commonly few, though 

 usually some crustaceous Lichens are to be found on the stones, and 

 there may occur such dicotyledonous plants as Pringlea antiscorbutica, 

 Colobanthus kerguelensis, and Lyallia kerguelensis, and the Grasses 

 Agrostis antarctica and Festuca kerguelensis. Like the dominant 

 Azorella, most of these plants are of tussocky growth, as are associated 

 Mosses such as species of Rhacomitriiim and Blindia. Acaena forms 

 a more even, if wavy, meadow-like community which from a distance 

 may look like a relatively smooth heathland. Commonly associated 

 with it are the same Pringlea, Galium antarcticum. Ranunculus 

 biternatus, and various Grasses. Apart from Pringlea, Avhich may 



