CHAPTER IX 



THE ANTARCTIC 



The idea of an Antarctic flora, that is, of a series of 

 plants which occur in the southerly ends of all the 

 Continents, from New Zealand to South America, is by 

 no means novel. 



The great classical work of Hooker * deals in great 

 detail with these interesting forms, and it was published 

 a very long time ago. But during the last few years 

 there have been many expeditions towards the Southern 

 Pole, of which the English and Scotch were perhaps the 

 most important of all. But it is unfortunately true that 

 the results of all this modern work, so far as flowers are 

 interested, have not yet been explained in such a way that 

 one could take refuge behind some great authority and 

 quote his conclusions. Unfortunately Graham Island 

 and the South Shetlands, which are quite close to the Ant- 

 arctic, only possess one flowering plant, which is a grass. 



Quite a large number of algae, lichen, and mosses 

 occur in the Antarctic regions. There are many algae 

 which are found both in the Antarctic and also in the 

 Arctic regions, so that they seem to have crossed in some 

 way the whole of the tropical and subtropical ocean. 



Certain lichens also occur in the Arctic, in the Alps, 

 and other mountains, and again in the Antarctic, without 

 being found anywhere in the lowland country between 

 them. This fact can only be explained on the theory that 

 their minute dust-like spores are easily blown by the wind. 



Those Antarctic mosses which were collected by 

 Hooker, Borchgrevink, and Rudmose Brown have re- 



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