278 



other than lichens could exist, for the summer sun rarely raises 

 the temperature above 0° C, and could not melt the snow. The 

 greater part of the time the ground is frozen hard. Since the 

 period during which life-activities may occur is so limited, it is 

 no wonder that most of the mosses remain sterile, and only two- 

 flowering plants occur, and these not in such abundance as to give 

 a facies to the flora. The rocks and stony ground may be 

 colonised by crustaceous lichens. Closed patches of moss-tundra 

 are seldom seen, but emerald-green mats of Prasiola crispa are 

 found near the sea. Penguins occupy many areas which might 

 have been occupied by plants. The ground is there covered with 

 a half -fluid mass of guano, and no vegetation can exist. 



Sixty-two species of mosses are known from the Antarctic 

 continent, and the flora shows the greatest affinity with South 

 Georgia and Magellanic countries. Most of the species are 

 found in the Graham Land area. The flora of Victoria Land 

 is much poorer, but three endemic species, including Saconeurum 

 glacial e n representing the only endemic genus, occur both 'in 

 Graham Land and Victoria Land. The only moss, Br yum 

 filicaule, from Kaiser Wilhelm's Land is endemic there. 



Geological, zoological and botanical facts are all in favour of 

 a single origin for the scattered floras and faunas of the sub- 

 antarctic and antarctic zone. The existing flora is the remnant 

 of the old antarctic plant-world, but an extension of glaciation 

 occurred in the Antarctic regions, and it is generally agreed that 

 there were no ice-free spots, or even if there were, the tempera- 

 ture would prevent plants from growing. Hence the conclusion 

 is reached that the existing flora has largely returned in post- 

 glacial times to the regions it now occupies. 



Cryptogams. 



Taxonomically the richest botanical results of the Swedish 

 expeditions are connected with the Bryophyta and Thallophyta. 

 Cardot (10, 16) for the first expedition catalogues 444 species of 

 mosses from the Magellanic region, of which 243 (54-7 per cent.) 

 are endemic, and 48 are new to science. The same author (I.e.) 

 enumerates 80 ^ species collected by Dr. Skottsberg in South 

 Georgia, of which 26 are new. 42 species of mosses are endemic 

 in South Georgia, representing nearly 45 per cent, of the total 

 recorded from that island. From the Antarctic continent 51 

 species were collected, five being described as new. Cardot was 

 working at Lille on the mosses collected during the second expedi- 

 tion, when war broke out, and nothing had been heard of the 

 collection up to the date of publication of Skottsberg's latest 

 work. Stephani (3, 19) records 78 species of Hepaticae horn the 

 first expedition, describing five as new. 



Darbishire (13) gives the following list for the lichens : 



Brought back by the Swedish 



Total lichen Antarctic Expedition, 



species known. Total spp. New Iocs. New spp- 



From Subantartic America ... 373 ... 101 37 20 



South Georgia 55 ... 37 28 4 



Antarctic regions ... 106 ... 46 18 9 



By Swedish Antarctic Expedition — ... 145 — 33 



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