Soo C. SKOTTSBERG 



section of Masatierra and the country that has lost its forest cover through hu- 

 man action. With regard to the mountainous, still well wooded east and central 

 part, Johow is convinced that the slopes toward the sea-shore, which plunge into 

 the water in the shape of a more or less high cliff wall, were always destitute 

 of trees, and that, considering the scanty rainfall of this basal region, there was 

 a maritime timberline in about lOO m altitude. It goes without saying that there 

 was never a forest but possibly a few dwarfed trees in cracks on the vertical 

 barrancas — Rca pruinata is still found in such situations — but ai fringe above 

 the top of the wall may also have been barren and covered, as Johow says, by 

 some kind of "steppe" or "meadow", and he gives a list of species which would 

 have formed this community, evidently a mixture of several sociations. Very 

 likely he drew his conclusions from observations made along the south side of 

 the island. 



A third chapter is devoted to the vegetation of the sea-shore. Johow points 

 out that topography and soil conditions are very unfavourable to plant life in 

 general, and that only few species are able to thrive. All are scattered colonists; 

 the only halophyte forming closed stands is Salicornia peruviana. From his list 

 p. 259 I would like to exclude Stipa bicolor [ = neesiana), Piptochaetium [ = Stipa 

 or Nassellci) laevissimum and Ochagavia elegans, and, of the ferns, Adiajitum 

 and Blechmini australe { = auriculatuui), for even if they are found near the sea 

 in cases, they are much more common and much better developed inland. Instead, 

 some species should be added, as will be seen later. 



Chapter 4 contains a general description of the vegetation of the narrow west- 

 ern part of Masatierra and of Santa Clara. The list of species does not differ 

 materially from the one just mentioned and is a mixture of inland and typical 

 seaside plants. 



Chapter 5 is a very short and incomplete description of what Johow terms 

 the "estepa de helechos" (fern-steppe) of the highland of Masafuera. As Johow 

 never went more than half-way to the highest ridges, not one of the many Subalp- 

 ine and Alpine species was seen by him. His species list would reflect the 

 vegetation near the timberline, if Drimys had not been excluded. 



About a year after my first visit to the islands in 1908, professor Otto 

 Burger, a former resident of Chile, published a book on Juan Fernandez, its 

 geography, history and natural products, which were familiar to him because he 

 had visited Masatierra. His description of the vegetation did not further our 

 knowledge of the plant life and contains some erroneous statements. 



In company of my friend Cand. phil. (later Prof. Dr.) PERCY QUENSEL, a 

 prominent geologist who has contributed important papers on the geology and 

 petrography of Juan Fernandez, 1 spent 4 days on Masatierra and 2 days on 

 Masafuera in August, 1908. Some notes on the distribution of the vegetation 

 and on the last living Santaluni were published in 19 10 (i", 2) and in my paper 

 of 1914 (j) pp. 55 — 71 were devoted to an analysis of some of the plant com- 

 munities, based on a survey of a number of different localities, the first attempt 

 of its kind, because Johovv's descriptions do not refer to any particular spot; 

 and for the first time the cryptogams were, to some extent at least, taken into 



