MR. J. G. BAKER ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF FERNS. 



341 



more than five times as many as we possess in Europe ; and of these one out of between 

 every three and four is peculiar to it. But a large proportion of the species, and nearly 

 all the peculiar ones, are concentrated in a small part of its area, in Japan, East China, 

 and the Himalayas — a tract not embracing more than a tenth part of the fourteen million 

 square miles which this district includes. In broad terms we may say that the northern 

 half of this district belongs to Asiatic Russia. The total number of Russian species 

 European, Asiatic, and American added together, is only 49. Taking the provinces of 

 Asiatic Russia as defined in Ledebour's Elora, and reckoning the species according to 

 the Synopsis-standard, we find they only yield ferns as follows : — 



Caucasian provinces 

 Altaic Siberia 

 Baikalian Siberia . 

 Uralian Siberia 



28 

 20 



22 



27 



Davurian Siberia 

 Eastern Siberia 

 Kamschatka . 



Eastern isles . 



14 



8 



17 



14 



arly all of them being in the list of the 34 species which belt the world 



north temperate 

 not European. 



For Amurland, Maximowicz gives 21 species, six of which 



Turning to the south-west, we find for Asia Minor 



rian and Palestinian fern-floras 



of them European. The small 



species, all 

 i European 



entirely ; in fact we do 



till 

 320 



each the Himalaj 



et a single addition in this direction to the European list 

 The number of Himalayan species we may state saJHy at 



In separating these out into subtropical and typically temperate, I have had to 

 rely almost entirely upon the notes of Dr. Hooker and Dr. Thomson, who have observed 

 and recorded carefully the altitudes of all the species they gathered. Taking the temperat, , 

 region as beginning at 5000 feet above the sea-level in the Eastern Himalayas, and at the 

 base of the hill-country in the north-west, we have definite knowledge that 181 Bpecies grow 

 above this line. These are the species which are marked with the figure 3 in the third 

 column of our table. There can be no doubt that this figure is too low as we have no 

 definite information as to the heights at which Wallich, Griffith, and others gathered 

 their specimens 



above 200 



^, and I have not included any species as temperate on mere preemption 



that there is every probability that further exploration will ra, se ,t concern I ,ly 



Passim from north-west to south-east along the range, we find .he Euro- 



pean species gradually disappear ; whilst from the Malayan isles the second in impoi 

 and productiveness of the great tropical fern-centres, along he humid ju gl, sb e of 

 ^ Malay peninsula, a crowd of subtropical species extend to he i^M^ 

 flank of the eastern extension of the Himalayan range, and find a congemal home n he 



wj. tuc eastern uxieii&iuii uj. w * — v - , .,, ^„„_ ^u,,* mi f 



-~ humid valleys of Khasia, Sikkim and Assam ^ ^S5^ * 

 wind, and the rays of an almost vertical sun fal J^ZILm region of the Hima 



According to our present knowledge, this subtrop ca 



! getation 



and many of the 

 It is of course evident 



Was yields 13G species not known in the temperate region atow it 



•Pedes that extend into the latter have their head quarter. Here 



hat it is through the combination of condemns of ahon and D ^ 



b y the Himalay 



an range 



filling the 



s 



graphical position which it occupies 



O * , ^C 4-1, v-v rm-m 



d oubt partly also by reason of the proximity 



of the range to one of the great head 



