DUSEN : THE VEGETATION OF WESTERN PATAGONIA. 9 







is made up of Crassula moschata Forst. and of mosses belonging to the 

 genera Hypnum, Campylopus, Dicramtm and Bryum, besides a few crust 

 lichens. 



Of the flora of the fell district proper I have no personal knowledge, 

 but am strongly inclined to believe that it does not differ materially from 

 that of the corresponding stations of the westernmost parts of the Straits 

 of Magellan. I think, therefore, that I should here give some of my own 

 observations in Desolation Island, as, on the whole, they may convey an 

 adequate idea of the flora of our upland district. 



The forest-line is at the height of about 400 meters and the majority of 

 the species belonging to the coast district extend to the same altitude ; a 

 few, such as Crassula moschata and Cotula scariosa, being restricted to 

 the ljttoral, while others are met with even far above the forest-line. On or 

 about that line is found Nothofagtcs betuloides (Forst.) Blume, a decid- 

 uous beech, appearing here as a shrub or low tree, while in Tierra del 

 Fuego.and western Patagonia, in the moderately rainy parts of which it 

 flourishes best, it becomes a tree of considerable size. The same species 

 occurs also on the uplands, extending up to a height of 600 meters, at 

 least, and the higher it goes, the more stunted it is ; at the upper limit of 

 its range it is merely a small shrub, the branches of which creep along 

 among the mosses of the ground, thus growing in the same way as the 

 Salices and dwarf birch of the Arctic regions. There are, I dare say, few 

 trees that vary to the same degree, from a mighty tree to an insignificant 

 little creeper trailing along the ground. But still more in regard to its 

 distribution this species is of very great interest. As I have already 

 stated, it attains its full development on the eastern slope of the Cordillera. 

 Here it descends to the lowlands at the foot of the mountains, reaching 

 the coast about the middle of the Straits of Magellan, and it is also found 

 in the coast district and lowlands of Fuegia. Farther west, along the 

 Straits, it shuns the coast, and this is all the more marked as one ap- 

 proaches the westernmost and rainiest parts of our district. The lower 

 limit moves continually higher and on the west coast it does not occur at 

 all, even in the region of the evergreen beeches. That it should be alto- 

 gether wanting in the coast section is very strange and seems difficult to 

 explain, at least at first sight. 



The occurrence of Nothofagns antarctica in the upland district is the 

 most interesting feature of the flora. Here also the mosses predominate, 



