HEPATIOE COLLECTED IN SOUTHERN PATAGONIA. 



BY 



ALEXANDER W. EVANS, 

 YALE UNIVERSITY. 



(PLATES IV, V, VI.) 



THE territory of Patagonia, and particularly the regions neighboring 

 the Straits of Magellan, have several times been visited by sci- 

 entific expeditions. Most of these have made collections of Pat- 

 agonian plants and have included the hepaticae among them, either 

 incidentally or systematically. Our knowledge of the hepatic flora of 

 this remote country is, therefore, sufficient to give us some idea of its 

 exceeding richness and variety. Although a few of the most conspicuous 

 species were gathered in the first years of the present century and even 

 earlier, the real foundations of our knowledge are based on the collec- 

 tions made during the Antarctic voyage of the British ships Erebus and 

 Terror, in the years 1839-43. These important collections were studied 

 by Sir Joseph D. Hooker and Dr. Thomas Taylor, and their preliminary 

 account 1 of the species found was later amplified into a fuller description 2 

 accompanied by numerous colored figures. 



Passing over several smaller gatherings, attention may further be called 

 to three larger collections, which have been made and described within 

 recent years. The first of these collections was that of Dr. Spegazzini, 

 which was made in 1882 and included 103 species, most of which came 



1 Hepaticae Antarcticae ; being characters and brief descriptions of the Hepaticae discovered in 

 the southern circumpolar regions during the voyage of H. M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror. 

 Lond. Jour, of Bot. 3: 366-400, 454-481. 1844. 



2 Flora Antarctica, 2: 423-446. //. 156-161. 1847. 



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