DUSEN: THE VEGETATION OF WESTERN PATAGONIA. 



2 9 



of the steppe proper, I infer from the fact that nearly all of the species com- 

 posing it are also found in the district of Nahuel-huapi, which is genuine 

 steppe land, large and unbroken ; though the flora of these smaller steppes 

 necessarily shows considerably fewer species than occur farther eastward. 

 By including those species also which are found on the steppe-like slopes 

 of the surrounding mountain heights, at an altitude of 700 to 1000 meters 

 above the sea, this disproportion is somewhat reduced. It is a matter of 

 course that the smaller steppes, being entirely level and with a perfectly 

 homogeneous soil, cannot furnish so many species as the wide Patagonian 

 steppe, with its diversity of soil and surface, and offering far more favor- 

 able conditions for the growth of a rich and varied flora. 



On the small steppes now in question grasses predominate, their fore- 

 most representative being Festuca gracillima, which grows in small tufts. 

 Shrubs are remarkably few and scarce. Of tuberous plants there is only 

 one, belonging to the the family of the Orchids, which was found in a 

 withered state and was therefore not determinable. The number of annual 

 and perennial species is about the same. The vegetation is scanty. 



LIST OF SPECIES. 



Berberis microphylla Forst. 



empetrifolia Lam. 

 Rites cucullatum Hook, et Arn. 

 Baccharis magellanica (Lam.) Pers. 

 Erigeron sordidus Gill. 

 Solidago chilensis Less. 

 Hypoclwzris poeppigii (DC.). 

 Madia sativa Mol. 

 Senecio danyausii Hombr. et Jacq. 



argenteus Kze. 

 Perezia linearis Less. 

 Cerastium arvense L. 

 Geranium magellanicum Hook. fil. 

 Accena multifida Hook. fil. 



splendens Hook, et Arn. 

 Fragaria chiloensis (L.) Ehrh. 

 Anemone multifida Poir. 

 Collomia gracilis Dougl. 



Thlaspi magellanicum Comm. 

 Armeria chilensis Boiss. var. 



magellanica Boiss. 

 Quinchamalium sp. 

 Loasa volubilis Juss. 

 Sisyrinchium chilense Hook. 

 Susarium segethi Phil. 

 Luzula racemosa Desv. 

 Car ex gay ana Desv. ^var. densa Kukn. 

 Alopecurus alpinus Sm. 

 Ptdeum alpinum L. 

 Deschampsia flexuosa (L.) Trin. 

 Agrostis montevidensis Spr. var. submutica 



Doell. 



Festuca gracilhma Hook. fil. 

 Trisetum subspicatum Beauv. 

 Poafuegiana (Hook, fil.) Hack. 



One or two species of Orthotrichiim and one of Usnea, somewhat resem- 

 bling U. barbata, are found on the older Berberis shrubs, but apart from 

 these, there is no vegetation of mosses or lichens in these small steppes. 



