GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 551 
plants almost equalled that of the Phanerogames. The European 
is surprised to meet there many vegetables from home, or closely 
allied to them, such as Senecios, Veronicas, Rushes, the Acrid 
Ranunculus, &c. ; and, on the other hand, several unknown yege- 
tables, particularly those of New Zealand, grow abundantly in 
these localities, such, amongst others, as the Phormium tenaz, 
called by Europeans New Zealand Flax, because its fibres furnish 
a very strong thread, very much used in the manufacture of 
certain fabrics. 
Ferns form almost a seventh of the whole vegetation of this 
country. Among the monocotyledons are the Graminew and 
Cyperacew. Among the dicotyledons the Umbellifere, Crucifere, 
and (Hnothere. New Zealand only furnishes a small number 
of alimentary plants. The aboriginal inhabitants of this archi- 
pelago, for the most part icthyophagons, were long reduced to the 
fecculent root of a Fern, the Pteris esculenta, for food, when they 
could not obtain fish. None of their trees produce large fruit. The 
Taro or Caladium esculentum and the Sweet Potato (Convoloulus 
batatus) also. serve as nourishment to the inhabitants of these 
countries. It is to be remarked that European vegetables, introduced 
_ into New Zealand by sailors, are propagated there with such facility 
that the aspect of the ground, as well as conditions of life, are 
greatly modified. Amongst the vegetables proper to the archi- 
pelago in question we may note the Corypha australis amongst the 
Palms, arborescent Draeznas, forests of Conifer, with large 
leaves, the Dammara, and Metrosideros amongst the Myrtacezx. 
Mountain VEGETATION. 
We have briefly traversed the principal botanical regions of the 
globe; and in the course of our survey, we have seen that vege- 
tation changes with the latitude: that is to say, according to the 
distance of the equator. As we advance from the equator, towards 
the poles we meet in succession with the equatorial, tropical, tem- 
perate, and polar zones—vegetation gradually losing its power, a 
fact which is proved most satisfactorily by the decreasing number 
of species and by their dwarfed appearance, until vegetation _ 
altogether ceases in the region where snow reigns eternal. 
When heat disappears organic life is —— and _yege-— See : 
