CHAPTER XX 



THE EPOCHS IN THE FLORAL HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC 



ISLANDS 



The Age of Ferns 



The epochs in the plant-stocking. — The age of ferns and lycopods. — The 

 relative proportion of vascular cryptogams in Hawaii, Fiji, and Tahiti. — 

 The large number of peculiar species in Hawaii. — The mountain ferns of 

 Hawaii. — The origin of peculiar species. — Dr. Hillebrand's views. — Their 

 origin connected not with greater variety of climate in Hawaii, but with 

 isolation. — Summary. 



Introductory Remarks 



In the endeavour to follow the various stages in the floral history 

 of the Pacific islands from the standpoint of plant-dispersal, a 

 method is here adopted which is not often employed. The usual 

 mode of making a general description of a flora is not intended to 

 bring out its genesis in point of time. We describe the result of a 

 long series of changes dating back to some unknown period, much 

 as one might describe the present condition of a people without 

 reference to their history ; and for obvious reasons rarely is an 

 effort made to differentiate the epochs of the stocking of the 

 region with its plants. The difficulties investing such a task in the 

 case of a region situated within a continental area would be almost 

 insuperable. With the oceanic groups of the Pacific such diffi- 

 culties, though still very numerous, would at all events be fewer in 

 number and less formidable in appearance. 



Taking my cue from the well-known instance of Krakatoa, it 

 is here assumed that the earliest epoch is connected with the 

 arrival of the cryptogamic flora (ferns, mosses, lichens, &c.) through 

 the agency of the winds, and with the arrival of the littoral plants 



