134 BOTANICAL GAZETTE | AUGUST 
(Suddivant no. 169); Appalachian mts. (Austin no. 477 fide Mrs. Britton); 
Florida (Donnell Smith, Dec. 1897); Monticello (Ligh/pipe). 
LEUCOBRYUM MINUS (Dill). Sull. forza INTERMEDIA Besch. 
DISTRIBUTION : N. America—Ohio (Sw/divant nos. 77, 98); 5S. Carolina 
(Ravenel); Florida (Durand).—C. R. B 
PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT recent work in plant geography is that 
by Johow on Juan Fernandez, undertaken under the auspices of the Chilean 
government.?*| Juan Fernandez consists of two large islands (Masatierra and 
Masafuera) and a small rocky island (Santa Clara), several hundred miles 
west of Chile. The islands are volcanic in origin, dating back no further than 
the tertiary, and were never connected with the main land. There are steep 
mountains ascending up to 1800 meters and cut by deep valleys. The author 
makes an evolutionary analysis of the flora, concluding that the flora has been 
derived from the mainland, and mostly from Chile. Oceanic and continental 
islands are contrasted and Juan Fernandez is considered to be an oceanic 
island, a conclusion in harmony with the absence of land mammals and reptiles. 
As in most remote islands, there is a small number of species distributed in a 
relatively large number of genera and orders (143 species of ferns and seed 
plants in 87 genera and 43 families). The author considers the species, 
grouping them according to the time of introduction: (@) endemic species 
represent the oldest inhabitants, having diverged most from continental types; 
6g endemic species, 12 endemic genera and 1 endemic family are recorded, 
showing a remarkable degree of endemism, greater than upon any other 
island group, possibly excepting the Sandwich Islands; (6) the autochthones 
are strikingly similar to Chilean species, 74 species being recorded ; their 
introduction has been brought about by birds, winds and sea currents ; (c) 
71 species were introduced by man unintentionally ; (@) 24 species have 
been introduced intentionally and have become naturalized ; (¢) 23 species are 
strictly culture plants. The plant societies are next discussed as follows, the 
most important one being (1) the sub-tropical evergreen forest, which extends 
over half the district. All native trees but one are evergreen, and some 
introduced trees that are deciduous in their native land have taken on the 
evergreen habit, ¢. g.,the peach tree. The valley forests are often made up of 
extensive social growths, while the mountain forests are more mixed. Ferns 
form an immense part of the vegetation. Many of the plants have large or highly 
colored flowers, strongly contrasting with the inconspicuous anemophilous 
flowers of most oceanic islands; the Juan Fernandez species are much more 
showy than the related Chilean species. Many species are pollinated by 
humming birds and some by insects. (2) The vegetation of rocky cliffs is 
2t Estudios sobre la flora de las Islas de Juan Fernandez. Obra illustrada con 2 
mapas, 8 grabados y 18 l4minas—Santiago de Chile, Imprenta Cervantes 1896. 4°. 
287 pp. See Eng. Bot. Jahrb. 22: Heft IV und V, Sinema pp. 44~59- 
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