BY R. M. JOHNSTON, F.L.S. 181 



3. " The flora elements represented in the Tertiary- 



Flora of Australia chiefly contain Phylones 

 (ancestor types), which are also common to other 

 Tertiary Floras of the globe. The character of 

 the Tertiary Flora of Australia cannot, therefore, 

 be considered essentially different from that of 

 the latter." 



4. " The Australian Tertiary Flora, in accordance 



with the preceding statements, is but a part of 

 one and the same orig-inal flora upon which all 

 the living floras of the globe are founded." 



5. " The comparison of this original flora to the pre- 



sent floras of the globe shows that in Australia 

 the differentiation of the Phylones has reached 

 its highest degree." 



6. " Many analogies to the Tertiary Flora are never- 



theless to be found in the living Australian 



Flora." 

 The genesis of the existing floras of the globe has thus 

 been ably shown to have been derived from generic 

 ancestor types living in the original flora of the Tertiary- 

 period. The genesis of these original ancestor types, 

 themselves from a further removed line of ancestry in 

 the Mesozoic period, is a more difficult matter, and is only 

 briefly referred to by the learned authority quoted in his 

 observations with respect to the New Zealand Fossil 

 Flora*. In commenting upon the Cretaceous Flora of 

 New Zealand, he states that plant remains have been 

 collected from four localities — Pakawau, Grey River, 

 Wangapeka, and Reefton, "The Cretaceous Flora con- 

 tains" 37 species, distributed into 29 genera and 17 

 families. Of these 4 are Cryptogtnnce,'^ ConifercB,^: Mono- 

 cotyledons, 13 ApetalcB, and 8 Dialype.talce. " Several 

 species seem to be the ancestors of Tertiary ones, par- 

 ticularly of the genera Aspidium, Podocarpus, Dacrydium, 

 Quercus, Fagiis, Cinnamomum, Dryaadroides, Ceratopeta- 

 lum, Cvpanoides, &c." JJhnophylum is also referred to as 

 an ancestor of the Tertiary Uhnus and Planera species. 

 The plant forms, having a characteristic Cretaceous facies 

 associated with them, are stated to be certain conifers 

 belonging to the genera Podocarpium and Dacrydinium. 



"On the Fossil Flora of New Zealand (Geol. Mag., Aug., 1887, pp. 

 363-367. 



