13] VEGETATIONAL TYPES OF POLAR LANDS 421 



Even though they lack arborescent growth and must be men- 

 tioned here, most other ice-free islands of the South that have been 

 investigated appear to be scarcely polar in type. Thus the Falkland 

 Islands near southern South America and the Antipodes Islands 

 near New Zealand support quite large bushes, besides Grasses up 

 to 1-5 metres in height which are apt to grow so closely together as 

 to prevent the entry of other plants. The large island of South 

 Georgia, however, which lies about 1,200 miles east of Tierra del 

 Fuego, is within the zone of pack-ice and has a clearly antarctic 

 character. In spite of persisting glaciation and poverty in species, 

 the vegetation is relatively luxuriant near the shore and in sheltered 

 valleys. Its character is chiefly determined by a few plants, such 

 as the tussocky Grass Poa flahellata and the somewhat shrubby 

 rosaceous Acaena adscendens, which are often so overwhelmingly 

 dominant that other plants play only a minor role. The Poa tufts 

 may be quite tall, the height of a Man being commonly approached 

 by the long and stiflF leaves protruding from tussocks that themselves 

 often exceed l a metre in height, and that are separated by bare spaces 

 in which, when the area is sloping, water flows away quickly after 

 snow-melt or heavy rain. Such vegetation is largely confined to 

 seaside situations. On rocks near the beach a thick turf and sward 

 may be formed, especially in manured areas, and sometimes over- 

 lying deposits of peat. In some places an unbroken grassy tundra 

 may extend to an altitude of 200 or even 300 metres on sheltered 

 north-facing slopes (which in the Far South of course tend to be 

 the most sunny and favourable). Other such slopes, especially 

 where damp, and the banks of brooks, may be covered by the 

 Acaena. 



Inland areas on South Georgia which have not been so invaded 

 and are not too swampy, often support a meadow-like community 

 of such Grasses as Festuca erecta, Deschampsia antarctica, and a 

 relative of the European Phleiim alpiniim, often with associated 

 Acaena adscendens. Mosses and especially Lichens may here play 

 an important role in the consolidation of the vegetation, ' Reindeer- 

 moss ' Lichens (including a Cladonia allied to C. rangiferina) and 

 members of the lichen family Stictaceae being often abundant, while 

 Neuropogon melaxanthus and allied species may practically cover the 

 rocks in the higher zones. Intermediate situations frequently sup- 

 port mixed cryptogamous carpets, and exposed ones little save 

 scattered Lichens. Low-lying swampy areas, on the other hand, 

 are typically inhabited by a community dominated by Rostkovia 



