DUSEN : THE VEGETATION OF WESTERN PATAGONIA. 3 



a moderate rainfall, the vegetation of which may be characterized as the 

 community of deciduous beeches ; (3) the steppe region, still farther east- 

 ward. These divisions have their counterparts in the three similar ones 

 into which I have elsewhere divided the Magellan territory. 1 



Within the two first-named belts the forest predominates, broken in 

 some places by smaller treeless areas, which, however, are of only 

 secondary importance. More remarkable are the sections above the 

 forest-line, the uplands proper. These I know only so far as the southern- 

 most part of western Patagonia is concerned, since the above-mentioned 

 expedition to the Rio Aysen never succeeded in reaching the end of the 

 forest, there being such a dense undergrowth that we did not once reach 

 an altitude above 200 meters. Owing to the limited time at my disposal 

 the attempt had to be given up, the forest-line here running at the height 

 of about 1000 meters. My account of the western Patagonian vegetation 

 must therefore be deficient in that the flora of the fell or upland district 

 can be touched upon in part only. 







I. THE COMMUNITY OF EVERGREEN BEECHES. 



The coast district of western Patagonia, in the whole of its length, 

 including the archipelago, is covered with particularly dense primeval 

 forests, very inaccessible to the traveller. This inaccessibility is due not 

 only to the compactness of the vegetation, but also to the number of fallen 

 and decaying trunks, which bar the way in all directions. In the southern 

 parts of the district the undergrowth of bushes is neither very vigorous nor 

 very diversified, but farther north it is more robust and richer in species, 

 forming an impediment not easy to surmount. As a rule, the thickets are 

 everywhere exceedingly dense. 



A very remarkable and important feature of the vegetation is the domi- 

 nant part played by the mosses and especially by the Hepaticee. Whether 

 wooded or not, the ground is everywhere entirely covered with mosses. 

 Every decaying tree is soon lined with these plants and the living trees 

 are more or less taken possession of by the same invaders. Some of 



1 Dusen, P. Ueber die Vegetation der Feuerlandischen Inselgruppe : Engler's Botanische 

 Jahrbiicher, Bd. XIV, Heft 2, 1897. 



Dusen, P. Die Gefasspflanzen der Magellanslander nebst einem Beitrage zur Flora der 

 Ostkiiste von Patagonien : Svenska Exped. till Magellanslanderna ; Bd. Ill, No. 5, p. 95. 



