STATISTICS OF VEGETATION. 697 



The orders which presented in one or but a few floras from 10 to 19 

 per cent, of the Phanerogamic species were : 



Caryophyllaceae . . Spitzbergen (14f per cent). 



Cruciferae Spitzbergen (19) and Melville Island (13f). 



Leguminosae .... Almost all intertropical and subtropical regions. 



Kubiaceae Sierra Leone (10). 



Proteaceae Australia (11|). 



Melastomaceae . . West coast of tropical America (11 J), Brazil (?). 



Saxifragaceae .... Spitzbergen (1 1|), Melville Island (15). 



Solanaceae Ascension (13) (naturalized). 



Myrtacese Brazil (?). 



Cyperaceae Lapland (13), Iceland (11), Brocken (12). 



Orchidaceee New Guinea (16^), Java (10), Mauiitius (11|), 



S. Mexico (10). 



Of Orders ordinarily exceeding 10 per cent, of a flora, 



Grarninaceae constituted 18 per cent, in Spitzbergen ; 21 in Melville 

 Island ; 27 in Kerguelen's Land. Composite, 18| per cent in California 

 and Mexico ; 19 in the Malouines ; 21 in Chili j 22 at Quito ; 25 in the 

 S. of Buenos Ayres ; 27 in Juan Fernandez. 



Orders with more than 30 per cent, occurred in exceptional localities, 

 viz. Compositse (33|) in the elevated parts of Chili, and Cyperaceae (33^) 

 at Tristan d'Acunha. 



Certain Orders predominate in particular latitudes, without 

 being in their nature characteristic of those latitudes. 



Tropical Floras. Thus, while in some regions of the tropical zone the 

 Palms, Zingiberaceae, Marantaceae, Melastomaceae, Malpighiaceae, &c., are 

 really characteristic, the predominant species of the tropical floras are not 

 members of such Orders as Lauraceae, Menispermaceae, Anonaceas, Bom- 

 bacese, which have their maximum in hot climates, but belong to the 

 Leguminosae, Graminaceae, and Cornpositae, which exceed 10 per cent, 

 generally in the tropics : the Orchidaceae and Cyperaceae follow next, then 

 Euphorbiaceae, Urticaceae, Melastoniaceae, and Scrophulariaceae; of which, 

 Melastomaceae alone belong exclusively to hot regions. 



Other Orders occurring in many tropical floras, but forming less than 

 5 per cent, of the species, are : 



Convolvulaceae, Malvaceae, Piperaceae, Zingiberacese, and Marantaceae, 

 Solanaceae, and less commonly Acanthaceae, Amentacese, Apocynaceae, 

 Bignoniaceae, Boraginaceae, Capparidaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Gentianaceee, 

 Labiatae, Lauraceae, Lorauthaceae, Malpighiaceae, Myrtaceee, Uinbelliferae, 

 Palrnaceae, Passifloraceae, Kosaceae, liutaceae, Anacardiaceae, and Ver- 

 benaceae. 



The Ferns are likewise exceedingly predominant in species in the 

 islands of the tropics (16, 21, 26 per cent.). 



Temperate Floras. In northern temperate latitudes (from the tropic 

 to 60 N. lat.), again, Compositae, Graminaceae, C^yperaceae, and Legumi- 

 noseae predominate in species the Cyperaceas increasing northward, the 

 Leguminosae rapidly decreasing (Granada 8 per cent., Yorkshire 4^ per 

 cent.). Next follow Cruciferas, Umbelliferae, and Caryophyllaceae ; then 

 Labiataa, Rosaceee, and Scrophulariaceae. No other Orders exceed 5 

 per cent, of the species, and only attain this in exceptional localities. 



