Distribution of the LmninariacecB. 365 



Postelsia^ and JSTereocystis. The 4 species of these genera are char- 

 acteristic forms of the very peculiar kelp-flora of this coast. 



There are no Lessoniese in the northern Atlantic or Arctic Oceans. 



Macrocystis pyrlfera, Ag. is the only representative of the Macro- 

 cystem and has the widest distribution of any single species of kelp. 

 Hooker' has given such an exhaustive account of the main features 

 of its distribution, that subsequent writers have had little to do but 

 to copy his account almost verbatim. The Macrocystis completely 

 encircles the South Pole, its southern limit being fixed by the ice. 

 It is said by Martens^ to be most abundant at Fuegia (or Terra del 

 Fuego), less so at Australia (or New Holland) and least abundant 

 at the Cape of Good Hope. From these places the Macrocystis is 

 carried in large masses (or "drifting islets") through all of the 

 Antarctic cuirents and has found a resting place on the shores of 

 the various islands where the conditions have been favorable for 

 its growth, viz: Kerguelen Land, Heard Island, Tristan d'Acunha, 

 St. Paul Island, and the Crozets. It does not extend up on either 

 coast of Africa to any extent nor on the eastern coast of South 

 America. It follows the Humboldt current up on the western coast 

 of South America, to the equator and finally " enters the cold 

 waters which flow from the Arctic Islands of the Pacific," and thus 

 extends along the entire western coast of North America up to 

 Alaska, and crosses over to the coast of Asia at Kamtschatka and 

 the Sea of Ochotsk. 



It occurs also in the central portion of the Pacific at Tahiti and 

 is credited to China by Hooker^ to which sea he suggests it has 

 been brought from the northern Pacific. 



It is not reported from the shores of Japan, nor does it occur at 

 all in the northern Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. 



The EcklonecG are generally regarded as southern, and as belong- 

 ing principally to Australia and the Cape of Good Hope, but Kjell- 

 man has recently shown^ that Japan has an abundant supply of 

 Ecklo7iim, made up of three distinct species peculiar to the country. 

 Echlonim occur at Fuegia and the western coast of South America 

 but the references leave some doubt as to the exact specific deter- 



1 Flora Antarctica. Pt. 2, p. 465. 



'^ Die Preussische Epeditionen nach Ost Asien, Die Tange, p. 40. 

 3 Loc. cit., p. 465. 



■* Kjellman and Petersen, Om Japans Laminaricr, Vega-Expeditionens Vetenskapliga 

 jakttagelser, Bd. iv, pp. 269-275, 1885. 



Trans. Conn. Acad. Vol. IX. March, 1893. 



26 



