268 . The Vegetation of the Subantarctic Islands. 
leaf, at about ıo mm apart, are a number of stout, almost parallel, ribs which 
are connected by a network of raised, stout veins forming lacunae, in the 
deep furrows between the ridges filled with loosely entangled cobwebby hairs. 
The upper surface of the leaf above the veins is sunken and the intermediate 
parallel spaces are raised, so giving a corrugated appearance to the leaf. The 
flower-stems are 80 cm, or more, high and terminated by a raceme of 135 flower- 
heads, each some 5 cm in diam., the disc dark-purple but the rays paler. 
P. criniferum Hook. f. is a summer-green herb with thinner, much more 
erect leaves than the above, 30—g0 cm long by 15—30 cm broad, the under- 
surface loosely tomentose and strengthened by stout flexible ribs. The massive 
flower-stalk, often more than ı m high, bears a raceme of globose heads, each 
4 cm in diam., the fiorets purplish-brown. 
F Haskın Buch. is a semi-summer-green herb with rosettes of obovate, 
n rather thin leaves, about 29 cm long by 6.5 cm broad covered on both sur- 
faces with silvery adpressed silky hairs which render the plant conspicuous. 
3. Biology of the Plants. 
Since not only are the special subantarctic species considered in what 
follows but the whole florula, so far as spermophytes and pteridophytes are 
concerned, and as many species are of restricted distribution, the statistics given 
are somewhat misleading and do not truly reflect the relation between the 
'growth-forms. and the ecological conditions. The abundance of the following 
growth-forms must therefore be specially emphasized, although some of them 
are represented by very few species: — ı. The tussock with a trunk. 2. The 
Prostrate tree. 3. The divaricating-shrub. 3. The cushion. 4. The rosette. 
5. The creeping and rooting herb. Further, the number of large-leaved herbs 
is much ae than in any formations of the ne elsewhere in the region. 
i ‘a. Irvees. a 
a ascyes 6, all of which, leaving the tree-fern on one side, ne 
quently shrubs also. The BEI DER are: — RE eo 
araliad-form 1; low. bushy-tree | 3,5 
Ehe 
2 from the trunk, but tier Be re the substratum. However, th y 
REN. in the liverwort: rg of the trunk and a are thus den 
