490 



ISLAND LIFE 



PAET II 



almost identical in the two countries, while the species — 

 in the two former especially — are mostly distinct. 



Here then we have apparently a wonderful resemblance 

 between the New Zealand flora and that of Australia, in- 

 dicated by more than two- thirds of the non-peculiar species, 

 and more than nine-tenths of the non-peculiar genera (255) 

 being Australian. But now let us look at the other side 

 of the question. 



There are in Australia seven great genera of plants, each 

 containing more than 100 species, all widely spread over 

 the country, and all highly characteristic Australian forms, 

 — Acacia, Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, Leucopogon, Stylidium, 

 Grevillea, and Hakea. These are entirely absent from New 

 Zealand, except one species of Leucopogon, a genus which 

 also has representatives in the Malayan and Pacific Islands. 

 Sixteen more Australian genera have over fifty species 

 each, and of these eight are totally absent from New Zea- 

 land, five are represented by one or two species, and only 

 two are fairly represented ; but these two — Drosera and 

 Helichrysum — are very widespread genera, and might have 

 reached New Zealand from other countries than Australia. 



But this by no means exhausts the differences between 

 New Zealand and Australia. No less than seven Austral- 

 ian Natural Orders — Dilleniaceae, Buettneriacese, Poly galeae, 

 Tremandrese, Casuarinese, Hsemodoracese, and Xyridese are 

 entirely wanting in New Zealand, and several others which 

 are excessively abundant and highly characteristic of the 

 former country are very poorly represented in the latter. 

 Thus, Leguminosse are extremely abundant in Australia, 

 where there are about 1,100 species belonging to nearly 100 

 genera, many of them altogether peculiar to the country ; 

 yet in New Zealand this great order is most scantily repre- 

 sented, there being only five genera and thirteen species ; 

 and only two of these genera, Swainsonia and Clianthus, 

 are Australian, and as the latter consists of but two species 

 it may as well have passed from New Zealand to Australia 

 as the other way, or more probably from some third country 

 to them both.^ Goodeniacese with ten genera and 220 



^ This accords with the general scarcity of Leguminosse in Oceanic 

 Islands, due probably to their usually dry and heavy seeds, not adapted to 

 any of the forms of aerial transmission j and it would indicate either that 



