306 ROWLEE: PLANTS FROM SOUTHERN PATAGONIA 
Lake Argentine is located in southern Patagonia about latitude 
51 degrees, Its latitude and longitude south correspond almost 
exactly to the latitude and longitude north of Lake Mistassinica 
in southern Labrador. The continents of North America and 
South America have generally speaking the same shape. Their 
configuration in relation to the tropics, however, is reversed. 
South America narrows southward until in the latitude of the 
region under discussion, it is about 200 miles wide; on the other 
hand North America widens towards the north until in the lati- 
tude of southern Labrador, it stretches out to more than three 
thousand miles. Arboreal vegetation extends as far south in 
South America as it does north in North America. In fact the 
climate of corresponding latitudes south seems to be less detri- 
mental to plant-life than corresponding latitudes in North America. 
This is probably due to the influence of the oceans. 
It has long been known that the only strip of deciduous forest 
in the southern continent is along the east side of the Andes in 
temperate South America. In the north temperate zone de- 
ciduous forests form a very dominating feature in the vegetation 
of both hemispheres. This type of vegetation is restricted in the 
Southern Hemisphere to a very limited area extending from sub- 
tropical Argentina and Chile southward and across the Fuegia 
Peninsula. In striking contrast to the northern deciduous forest 
the southern one is composed of a single generic type the s0- 
called southern beeches (Nothofagus antarctica and its congeners). 
The west side of Patagonia and Fuegia has an evergreen rain- 
forest. One of the most abundant elements in that forest is the 
evergreen species of this same genus, Nothofagus. This reminds 
one in a way of the oaks of North America which are represented 
by both deciduous and evergreen species. The rain-forest area 
comprises the westerly slope and summit of the Cordilleras of the 
Andes. This is a region of perpetual rain and fog. The easterly 
part of Patagonia and F uegia presents the other extreme of 
climate in that it is arid and wind-swept with a comparatively 
small rainfall. It is the pampas region and supports a distinctly 
desert vegetation. Lying between these two extremes is the 
narrow belt of deciduous forest extending over about fifteen 
degrees of longitude, that is, from southern Fuegia to the Rio 
