CHAPTER X 



FLORA AND FAUNA 

 Flora 



IN discussing the flora of Antarctica one is ir- 

 resistibly reminded of the famous essay on "The 

 Snakes of Ireland." It is comprised in the sentence 

 ^'There are no snakes in Ireland." So also one may 

 almost dismiss the land flora of the continent in the 

 sentence, ''There are no flowering plants in Antarctica." 

 Still as there are over a hundred lichens and many 

 species of mosses and algae, some little description of 

 these will be of interest. I believe that I discovered 

 the largest vegetated region so far seen on the Ant- 

 arctic mainland, and I am under the impression that 

 I found the largest living land animals. Possibly the 

 reader will not be much impressed by these records 

 when he hears the particulars ! 



On my first day's sledging in the Antarctic (January 

 28th, 191 1 ) on our journey up the Ferrar Glacier, I 

 made a detour to examine the slopes at the foot of the 

 valley wall near the Herbertson Glacier. On the 

 gravels some dozen or so feet above the surface of the 

 Ferrar Glacier, I was amazed to see a carpet of green 

 moss, as flourishing as any in more temperate regions. 

 I sat down on a granite erratic and noted that there 

 were three different species present, but as I was not 



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