DERIVATION OF THE FLORA OF HAWAII 13 



The only likely means of transport for the spores of most species 

 would seem to be in mud adherent to the feet of rapid-flying migratory 

 birds. As there are at present no migrants from the south, not to men- 

 tion the great distance of the nearest source of supply, it is doubtful 

 whether this will explain the presence in the islands of the numerous 

 Asiatic and Australasian types. It is possible that some of the wide- 

 ranging sea-birds might reach Hawaii from the Southern Pacific, but it 

 is highly improbable that these would carry spores from plants living in 

 the depths of the mountain forests. 



It is interesting in this connection to note a remarkable case of a 

 Hawaiian liverwort (Lepidozia sandvicensis) which Professor A. W. 

 Evans writes me occurs also in Alaska. The most common migratory 

 bird of the islands is the golden plover, which regularly migrates in large 

 flocks from Alaska. It may well be that this bird may have been the 

 agent by which this liverwort was transported to Alaska, and also the 

 means by which some of the American immigrants, like the Chile straw- 

 berry, may have reached the islands. All of the known migratory birds 

 are American, and could hardly have played a role in the introduction of 

 species from the South Seas. 



Stephani 12 gives about seventy-five species for Hawaii, but his list 

 is incomplete, and it is safe to say that the total number recorded up to 

 the present is about one hundred. Of these, about twenty per cent are 

 thallose forms, the remainder belonging to the foliose Jungermanniales. 

 Omitting the Anthocerotaceae he lists seven species of Marchantiaceae 

 and twelve thallose Jungermanniales. Of the former, one species is cos- 

 mopolitan, three are endemic, and four belong to the Indo-Malaysian 

 region. Seven of the twelve thallose Jungermanniales are endemic, two 

 are cosmopolitan, and the remainder occur in Southern Polynesia and the 

 Indo-Malayan area. The writer collected sterile material of a large 

 Aneura, apparently A. maxima, a species hitherto known only from Java 

 and Sumatra. 



Of the fifty-odd species of foliose liverworts listed by Stephani, the 

 majority are endemic. Of the non-endemic species, only two are Ameri- 

 can, and one of these, as already mentioned, has probably been intro- 

 duced through the agency of some migratory bird. All of the other non- 

 endemic species belong to the Southern Pacific islands and Indo-Malaysia. 

 It is sufficiently evident, then, that from the data available the hepatic 

 flora is closely related to that of the Southern Pacific and southeastern 

 Asia. 



lz Loc. dt. 



