396 



C. SKOTTSBERG 



Polypodiwn intermedium and Ophioglossum fernandezimium, hut Pe//aea and Ophio- 

 glosswn do not grow in the forest, the former inhabiting the dry coast cUffs, the 

 latter the open grass land, and they may have their own history. 



How and when the non-endemic South American species reached Juan Fer- 

 nandez is hard to tell. They are temperate and, with the exception of J/j/r/'r<?/« 

 nuvimularia, herbaceous. Myrteola is the only member of this group that extends 

 south to the subantarctic zone. Of the others Da7itlio7iia, Koeleria, Stipa, PiptocJiae- 

 tium, FJeocharis, J uncus procerus (also donibeyauus and iiubricatus^), Libertia^ 

 Peperomia fernaitdeziana, Parietaria and JMimulus show, in their mode of occur- 

 rence, every sign of being indigenous. Advocates of transoceanic dispersal would 

 not hesitate to call them "late arrivals which have not liad time to change", and 

 a direct transport is not altogether impossible. It would be interesting to know 

 if a grass land existed when Great Juan Fernandez was connected with the mainland, 

 but unfortunately we do not even know the extension of the Stipelum when the 

 early voyagers reported on the vegetation and already found the introduced Ai>c7ia 

 barbata in dominance in the treeless western part of Masatierra. A remark made 

 by BkugGEN deserves to be quoted in this connection. A current coming from 

 the south swept past the shore of Great Juan Fernandez. When, during the Na- 

 vidad transgression, separation from Chile occurred, 



... el mar del polo sur entro en comunicaci6n con el mar que bafiaba las costas de Chile 

 Central y el primer antecesor de la corriente de Humboldt llevo las aguas mas frescas hacia 

 el norte, dando principio a la gran zona desertica. 



Bruggen seems to have forgotten that at that time Antarctica was covered, 

 not by an inland ice, but by luxuriant vegetation, and that the sea cannot have 

 been cold; however, there must have been an uppwelling of cold water, and the 

 dry climate of the basal belt may have been as unfavourable for tree growth as 

 it is now. Nevertheless I cannot believe that the present steppe-like communities 

 date back to early or even middle Tertiary time. On the other hand it seems 

 quite unlikely that the species of Stipa, Piptochaetiuiii, Dantlionia, etc. were in- 

 troduced with the traffic while, in this respect, Chaetoiropis (the endemic nature 

 of Ch. imbcrbis questionable), the two Cyperus, Juncus capillaceus, Paro7iyc/iia, 

 Ce7itella. PIcdyotis and Pla7itago lru7icaia are under suspicion. 



Of the ferns found elsewhere Polypodiu77i Ianceolaiu77i is pantropical and old 

 enough to have belonged to the ancient flora, and this may be true also of 

 Tricho7na7ies exsecttmi, Hy7ne7wphyllu7n spp., Adiantu/n c/ii/ense, Pteris chilensis and 

 semiadiiata, and Elaphoglossu)7i\ I have suggested that the latter was carried 

 directly to Masatierra by a northerly storm, and this could have been the case 

 also with Poiypodiui/i Masafuerae, observed a single time lOO years ago and never 

 again. P. tricho77m7wides remains doubtful in spite of the specimens still extant 

 and labelled Juan Fernandez [24.^. 766). 



The presence of a large, presumably boreal element is not difficult to explain,, 

 for it extends all along the Andes to the far south. Many of the species are 

 endemic, Agrostis 77iasafiierana, 2 sp. of SperguUvia, 2 Berberis, Carda7m7ie Kiues- 



