THK VEGETATION OI' IHE JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLANDS 873 



of the canyons. A loosely branched, decumbent-erect perennial, forming more or 

 less extensive patches. Seen with flowers and capsules in February. 



GaliiiDt iimsaftdiiDiKin Skottsb. Moss carpets in the Alpine heath of Masa- 

 fuera, from i lOO to about 1400 m. A tender and very fragile, trailing herb; 

 with flowers and fruit P'eb. — March (p. 174, fig. 25). 



Xer/rra ^e^ranadensis (Mutis ex L. fil.) Druce (N. depressa lianks ct Sol.). 

 Rubiaceae. In wet moss mats, scarce, from 200 to 1350 m. A tender, much bran- 

 ched, prostrate herb. With flowers and fruit Feb. — March and mcjst likely at any 

 time from spring to winter. 



Salicornia pcruiiia)ia Kunth. All islands, one of the very few halo[)hytes, 

 local but abundant where found. Suffruticose, 3- — 4 dm tall. With flowers Jan. — Feb. 



Hemicryptophytes. 



A typical Hemicryptophyte in Raunkiaer's sense has monocarpic vegetative- 

 floral shoots and survives the unfavourable season in the form of one or several 

 buds situated just beneath the soil surface or at the surface and then protected 

 by dead leaves. Except in the highland of Masafuera there is no unfavourable 

 season in Juan Fernandez during which either cold or dry weather would cause 

 the plants to become dormant. The difference in temperature between summer 

 and winter is slight, frost is unknown, and even if most of the rain falls during the 

 winter months, the summer is by no means dry. Thus the herbs and grasses 

 stand, as a rule, fresh and green the year round, even if the flowering shoots 

 are monocarpic. The innovations do not pass any season as closed, well-protected 

 buds; they will, perhaps, arrest their growth for some time in a more or less 

 advanced stage. Few species are typical hemicryptophytes; most of them approach 

 the chamaephytes in their mode of living. 



Stipa neesiana Trin. et Rupr. (S. fernandeziana Phil.). Both islands, common 

 in the natural grass-lands as far west as Punta Larga and also found in open 

 spaces in the wooded section of Masatierra; more abundant on the lower, treeless 

 slopes of Masafuera, where it is an important constituent of the grass-land. A 

 coarse, cespitose grass with the dead leaves long persistent; culms to i m tall. 

 Observed in flower July — Dec, in fruit Dec. — Feb. 



Stipa (Nassella) laevissima (Phil.) Speg. (Piptochaetium, Phil.). Masatierra, 

 on the lower treeless slopes from Bahia Cumberland to Punta Larga and Que- 

 brada Juanango, abundant; also here and there on the stony ridges to about 

 600 m above sea-level. A leading grass in the basal region of Masafuera; see 

 p. 98 for particulars. A typical "tunicate" grass, with filiform leaves as long as 

 the culms, to 50 cm or more; new growth more or less concealed among the 

 mass of old, yellow sheaths. With flowers July — Nov. and fruits Dec. — ^Jan. 



Piptochaetiimi bicolor (Vahl) Desv. Masatierra, on open soil in the central part 

 of the island, not common, but rather abundant on the dry lower slopes of 

 Villagra. A tunicate grass with narrow convolute leaves 10 — 20 cm long and culms 

 up to I m. F'lowering and fruiting season as in the former. 



Polypogon imberhis (Phil.) Johow. Endemic; on both islands near the coast, 



58 — 516796. The Nat. Hist, of Juan Fernandez and Easter Isl. Vol. II. 



