688 SCHOUW'S PHYTO-GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS. 



Andes from 37° to 40° S. lat. Thuja chilensis occurs on the moun- 

 tains of south Chili. In this region we also meet with Thuja tetra- 

 gona the Alerse of Chili, and Podocarpus chiliana. Araucaria brazil- 

 iana is found on the mountains near Rio Janeiro in the province of 

 St. Pauls. Mean temperature, 59° to 74° P. European plants form 

 here objects of culture. Wheat, the Vine, and the Peach are widely- 

 extended. 



22. The Antarctic Region (D'Urville's Region). — This includes the 

 countries near the Straits of Magalhaens, Tiferra del Fuego (Fuegia), 

 and the Falkland Islands. There is a considerable resemblance be- 

 tween the vegetation here and what is seen in the north temperate 

 zone. Polar forms display themselves in the species of Saxifrage, 

 Gentian, Arbutus, and Primrose, and other European genera. There 

 is also a resemblance between the plants of this region and those 

 of the mountains of South America, of Chili, the Cape, and Aus- 

 tralia. In Fuegia, the Evergreen Beech, Fagus Forsteri, which 

 never sheds its coriaceous foliage, is a very prevalent tree ; also the 

 Deciduous Beech, Fagus antarctica, the leaves of which change colour 

 and fall, and Drymis Winteri. These three trees occupy exactly the 

 same position in Fuegia that the Birch, Oak, and Mountain Ash, do 

 in Scotland. The vegetation of Fuegia includes a number of British 

 plants, although 106 degrees of ocean roll between, and some of the 

 species in question inhabit no intermediate latitudes. The genera are 

 in a great measure identical with those of Britain. Fuegia is the 

 native place of the Fuchsia. In the Falkland Isles there are about 

 120 flowering plants, consisting chiefly of those found on the moun- 

 tains of Fuegia, and on the arid coast and plains of Patagonia. Grasses 

 and Bolax glebaria, the Balsam-bag (one of the Umbelliferse), form 

 the chief botanical features. Bolax glebaria forms hard hummocks 

 4 feet high and the same diameter, which give out a balsamic resin- 

 ous smeU. Their form and occurrence on this barren soil has given 

 rise to the name of Misery-balls. Dactylis csespitosa, the Tuss0,c-grass, 

 appears. Hooker remarks, like a forest of miniature Palms. It forms 

 hillocks about 6 feet high, and 4-5 in diameter, some of the blades 

 of grass being 6 feet long ; and supplies excellent fodder. Among 

 shrubby plants may be noticed Veronica elliptica and decussata, Chilio- 

 trichum amelloides, Empetrum rubrum, and Pernettia empetrifolia. 

 Of Ferns, Lomaria alpina and L. magellanica are found. Lichens 

 abound, and the Usnea melaxantha forms a miniature shrubbery on 

 the rocks. In the islands farther south Mosses and Lichens form the 

 chief flora. Among the plants found on the antarctic islands of 

 Tristan d'Acunha, Inaccessible, and Nightingale Islands, are the fol- 

 lowing : — Cardamine hirsuta, Sonchus oleraceus, Hypochaeris glabra, 

 and Apium graveolens (European plants), Nertera depressa, Chev- 



