XXXII COAST OF SOUTHERN CHILE ' 477 



vegetated inland regions, in which, however, the amount of rain 

 and the degree of fertility decreases from south to north, that is to 

 say, as we approach the desert regions. Here we find none of the 

 dry beaches that prevail for twenty-five degrees of latitude north of 

 Coquimbo. When we scoop with our hands to a depth of three or 

 four inches in the sand we find it relatively cool and more or less 

 moist, as in an English beach. In a hot summer's day on a 

 Valparaiso beach we should find that the temperature of the sand 

 at the surface (half-inch deep) was about 112° F., and at a depth of 

 four inches about 80°. This would be above the average for the 

 zone, which would be probably near the typical summer-tempera- 

 ture of an English beach, namely, 102° at the surface and jy° four 

 inches down. This subject of beach temperature is discussed in 

 Note 70. 



Plants typical of the beaches of this zone, and evidently 

 occurring over the length of it, are Convolvulus soldanella, Nolana 

 (paradoxa?); Polygonum maritimum, Salsola Kali, and Selliera 

 radicans. Nolana is a Chilian and Peruvian genus. This beach 

 plant, which is especially abundant on the beaches near Coronel 

 and at Bahia San Vincente, has the creeping habit of its associate, 

 the Convolvulus. However, it possesses seeds, or rather seed- 

 vessels, of more limited buoyancy; and it is shown in Note 71 that 

 prolonged drying is needed for effective dispersal by currents over 

 great distances. This beach species of Nolana has narrowly 

 escaped being a widely-spread littoral plant ; whereas it is now- 

 restricted to the Chilian beach flora. Selliera radicans, a little 

 creeping Lobeliaceous plant, growing under the shade of tall 

 clumps of Juncus at the edge of the beach or in wet places where 

 springs ooze out in the sand, is a very interesting species that 

 occurs also on the other side of the Pacific in Australasia. Of the 

 mode of dispersal of its small seeds I know nothing, as the fruits 

 were not ripe at the time of my visit ; but I would suggest that 

 some resident botanist should investigate this important point. 

 I found it at Corral and at Coquimbo ; and Gay speaks of it as 

 growing on wet coast places from Chiloe to Coquimbo, a range of 

 12^° of latitude. 



It is probable that all the shore-plants of this zone extend 

 south to Chiloe in latitude 42^ S. ; and it is likely that some of 

 them reach towards the Straits of Magellan. I did not find any of 

 them within the Straits on the beaches in the vicinity of Punta 

 Arenas, where, however, I noticed the three plants recorded by 

 Ball, namely, Armeria maritima, var. andina ; Senecio candidans, 



