GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF MOSSES. 35 



If we take analogous situations in the southern hemisphere 

 we shall still find a certain proportion of species identical with 

 those of the north, with the admixture however and pre- 

 dominance of distinct forms. 



A few species are almost cosmopolitan, as Andreaa rupestris, 

 Weissia controversa, Ceratodon purpureas, Racomitriun lanu- 

 ginosum, Funaria hygrornetrica, Bryum argenteum, B. capillare, 

 Polytrichum commune, and Hypnum cupressiforme. Other 

 British species however occur in various parts of the world 

 which cannot be considered as cosmopolitan. 



If we take New Zealand as a point of comparison, a country 

 which is peculiarly rich in Cryptogams, we find that 249 species 

 of Mosses are recorded, in Dr. Hooker's Flora, as occurring 

 in its islands. Of these 41, including the species above- 

 mentioned or about one-fifth, are British or at least European 

 species. In 39 genera there is not a single New Zealand spe- 

 cies which is European; and in several of these, as Macro- 

 mitrium, Racopilum, Rhizogonium, Dawsonia, etc., there are no 

 European representatives. Meanwhile Hookeria, Isothecium, 

 Homalia, and some other European genera, obtain an import- 

 ance which they scarcely possess in any European flora, and 

 indeed Pleurocarpous Mosses are predominant in beauty and 

 luxuriance. 



If, however, the New Zealand Mosses be compared with 

 those of Tasmania, we shall find that while the latter, including 

 cosmopolitan forms, comprise about a third of European 

 species, the remainder agree wonderfully with those of New 

 Zealand. Of the 158 recorded species, about 120 are the 

 the same with those of New Zealand, without mentioning 

 British forms common to both. 



It will be found, moreover, that many of these species of a 

 southern type extend to the Auckland and Campbell's Isles, 



d 2 



