466 SUBANTARCTIC ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND. [Systematic Botany. 



quently may be reasonably looked upon as of much more recent origin than the 

 species composing the previous group. 



We have seen that the flowering-plants and ferns found in the southern islands 

 number 194, and that fifty-three of them are endemic. Of the remaining 141 species, 

 no less than 133 are found in New Zealand, leaving only eight which do not exist 

 therein. The names and geographical distribution of these are given below : — 



1. Ranunculus biternatus, Smith . . Fuegia, Falkland Islands, South Georgia, Kerguelen, Crozets, 



Marion Island, New Amsterdam. 



2. Cardamine glacialis, D.C., var. sub- South Chili, Fuegia, Falkland Islands. 



carnosa, Schulz 



3. Colobanthus subulatus, Hook. f. . . Victoria, Fuegia, Falkland Islands, South Georgia. 



4. Callitriche antarctica, Englm. . . Fuegia, Falkland Islands, Kerguelen, South Georgia, Marion 



Island, Heard Island. 



5. Azorella Selago, Hook, f . . . . . Fuegia, Kerguelen, Crozets, Marion Island, Heard Island. 



6. Cotula plumosa. Hook, f . . . . . Kerguelen, Crozets. 



7. Rostkovia magellanica, Hook. f. . . Fuegia, Falkland Islands, South Georgia. 



8. Asfidium mohrioides, Bory. . . Chili, Fuegia, Falkland Islands. South Georgia, Marion 



Island, Amsterdam Island. 



It is probable that the last-mentioned species should be expunged, its reported 

 occurrence in the Auckland Islands resting on very doubtful evidence. On the 

 other hand, Acaena adscendens should possibly be added, the New Zealand plant 

 usually referred to it being in all likelihood distinct. With the single exception of 

 Cotula flumosa, all the above species are found in Fuegia and in some of the islands 

 of the Kerguelen - South Georgia group. Their existence in the southern islands of 

 New Zealand is evidently due to comparatively recent migration ; and if Schimper's 

 view is accepted, that their presence in Kerguelen is to be attributed to the agency of 

 pelagic birds, then I see no reason why the same mode of transport should not be 

 considered sufficient to carry them to the southern islands as well. After all, the 

 distance from Kerguelen to Macquarie Island is not so great as that from Fuegia to 

 Kerguelen. As to Cotula 'plumosa, I am prepared to accept Schimper's suggestion 

 that it properly belongs to the southern islands of New Zealand, and that in some 

 unexplained manner it has been conveyed from thence to Kerguelen and the Crozets. 

 I would suggest that an analogous case exists in Veronica elliftica, found both in 

 New Zealand and Fuegia, but which is evidently a stranger in the latter country, far 

 removed from all its immediate allies. I cannot doubt but that in some way it has 

 been conveyed from New Zealand across the vast waters of the Pacific. Similarly, 

 Sophora tetraptera, the pods of which are specially adapted for floating, has doubtless 

 been carried from New Zealand to Chili and Juan Fernandez. 



What conclusions can be drawn from the 133 species found in New Zealand ? 

 In the first place, sixty-eight, or rather more than one-half, are absolutely confined 

 to the; two countries. The remaining sixty-five can be tabulated as under : — 



Species. 

 L. Found in Australia or Polynesia as well as New Zealand, but in no other countries . . . . 24 



2. Found in temperate South America (Fuegia in an extended sense) as well as in New Zealand. 



Of the species placed under this heading, four are confined to the two countries, four also 

 extend to the Kerguelen - Tristan d'Acunha groups, while four more are found in Aus- 

 tralia in addition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 



3. Species of very wide range, most of them almost cosmopolitan . . . . . . . . 25 



Total . . . . . , . . . . .... . . 65 



