10 BOTANICAL RESULTS OF THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION 



the return of spring : farther south and mosses have been collected in the far south of 

 Victoria Land (78 S.) their frozen condition must last longer. In this relation it is 

 striking how poor and stunted are the specimens from 77 to 78 S. in Victoria Land 

 compared to those from lower latitudes in Graham Land. Vegetative reproduction 

 among Antarctic mosses seems to be the rule, and fruiting specimens of most species 

 are very rare among the collections of all the expeditions : among my South Orkney 

 specimens the only species with many and well-developed fruits was Polytrichum sub- 

 piliferum, Card., and Dr Cardot says that among all the species of Antarctic mosses he 

 has seen only 6 in fruit : in a few other species " flowers " have been seen. 



Antarctic mosses generally grow in small colonies in which a number of different 

 species may be found together. In the midst of these clumps an occasional hepatic 

 may be found, for hepatics seldom if ever grow isolated, nor indeed do individual species 

 of moss. Doubtless this is the only habitat in which hepatics with their more delicate 

 tissues could survive. In some cases a small tundra of moss and lichen vegetation may 

 be formed, and since these tundras are used as nesting-places by skuas and gulls, while 

 other birds, as shags, build their nests largely of moss and lichen, one can understand 

 the dispersion of the flora by this agency. This habit of aggregation which Antarctic 

 mosses have, shows the need of exhaustive collecting : a mere sample or two of a clump 

 is not sufficient, and a collector new to the Antarctic will invariably overlook many 

 species by not taking numerous enough samples of each colony. 



The number of Antarctic hepatics is naturally not great, and includes not more than 

 6 species, of which 3 are found in Gerlache Strait, 1 at the South Shetlands, and 3 in 

 Orleans Channel. In the South Orkneys no species was discovered, nor was any found 

 in Wilhelm Land or Victoria Land. Of these 6 hepatics, 4 occur in South Georgia. 

 While several fungi are recorded from sub-antarctic islands, such as Tristan da Cunha, 

 Gough Island, and others, the true Antarctic regions support but a single species, the 

 discovery of which was made by M. Eacovitza of the Belgica ; this was a new species, 

 Sclerotium antarcticum, Bomm. et Eous., and was found on Danco Land growing among 

 Aira antarctica : apparently this is its only record. 



Undoubtedly the predominant feature of the Antarctic vegetation is the number of 

 lichens, not as species, but as individuals. At the South Orkneys the lichen vegetation 

 is very rich. In winter, when almost everything is deep in snow, a few precipitous rock 

 faces still show a relieving touch of colour among the monotonous white, due largely 

 to various orange-coloured species of Placodium (P. regale, Wainio, and P. elegans, Nyl.) : 

 when the snow begins to melt in spring almost all the rocks bared to view show a 

 shaggy covering of Usnea melaxantha, Ach., a species which more than any other 

 seems to luxuriate in the conditions of life to be found there, and produces good 

 "fruits" in quantity. Dr Skottsberg also mentions the frequency of Placodium and 

 Usnea in the lands he visited, and M. Turquet notes 1 the colour given to the 

 landscapes of Gerlache Strait and Graham Land by Usnea and Lecidea. M. Gain 



1 Le Fran f ait ciu P6le Sud, 3. Charcot, Paris, 1906, v., " La Vie vegetale," pp. 434-438. 



