THE VEGETATION OF THE HAN FERNANDEZ ISLANDS 



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Fig. 39. Timber-line in Quebrada del M.^no. :.Ia5at\:era. look;:,^ Eas:. :^,".\z.v.y^x^ Anthoxanthum 

 Soc: in the centre a patch of Loplwsoria. Left on slope a few Dicksoniae. — Photo K. Back- 



strom, Feb. 1917. 



canelos are found higher up. and this is particularly the case with the latter. 

 Single canelos occur in the Dicksonia-Lophosoria belt up to looo or iioo m, and 

 one solitary tree, about 5 m tall, was found on the bank of a small ravine at 

 1130 m. The record is held by the peralillo \Coprosma pyrifolia), of which a 

 50 cm tall male plant was found at 1200 m above sea-level on the Piano de la 

 Mona above Buque \'arado. 



It does not seem possible to hx a line between a lower and an upper 

 montane belt on this island, because the trees and shrubs characterizing the upper 

 woods on Masatierra are absent from Masafuera, the dora of which is poor in 

 comparison. Rea niicrantha is, as it were, replaced by Hesperoseris. but this is 

 much less common. The only arboreous species serving as an indicator ot an 

 upper, more humid forest belt is Dicksonia externa. Conditions are. however, 

 different in the north and south part of the island: only in the latter a closed, 

 extensive Dicksonia forest with scattered trees 'only Drimys. as far as I have 

 seen) is developed, and here it extends up the slopes of Los Inocentes to at 

 least 1200 m. North of Casas we find DicksoJiia in all the wet, wooded gulches, 

 as a rule not under ;5om, but occasionally down to 440, as for instance in 

 Quebrada del Mono. A very thick stand is seen on PI. 108:2. 



On Masafuera we find almost nothing that corresponds to the high-montane 

 brushwood which is such a characteristic feature in the scenery on Masatierra and 



