CHAP. XXII THE FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND 



491 



species Australian, has but two species in New Zealand — 

 and one of these is a salt-marsh plant found also in Tas- 

 mania and in Chile ; and four other large Australian orders 

 — Rhamneae, Myoporinese, Proteacese and Santalacese, have 

 very few representatives in New Zealand. 



We find, then, that the great fact we have to explain 

 and account for is, the undoubted affinity of the New Zea- 

 land flora to that of Australia, but an affinity almost ex- 

 clusively confined to the least predominant and least 

 peculiar portion of that flora, leaving the most predominant, 

 most characteristic and most widely distributed portion 

 almost wholly unrepresented. We must however be care- 

 ful not to exaggerate the amount of affinity with Australia, 

 apparently implied by the fact that nearly six- sevenths of 

 the New Zealand genera are also Australian, for, as we 

 have already stated, a very large number of these are 

 European, Antarctic, South American or Polynesian genera, 

 whose presence in the two contiguous areas only indicates 

 a common origin. About one-eighth, only, are absolutely 

 confined to Australia and New Zealand (thirty-two genera), 

 and even of these several are better represented in New 

 Zealand than in Australia, and may therefore have passed 

 from the former to the latter. No less than 174 of the 

 New Zealand genera are temperate South American, many 

 being also Antarctic or European ; while others again are 

 especially tropical or Polynesian ; yet undoubtedly a larger 

 proportion of the Natural Orders and genera are common 

 to Australia than to any other country, so that we may say 

 that the basis of the flora is Australian with a large inter- 

 mixture of northern and southern temperate forms and 

 others which have remote world-wide affinities. 



General Features of the Australian Flora anditsFrobdble 

 Origin. — Before proceeding to point out how the 

 peculiarities of the New Zealand flora may be best 

 accounted for, it is necessary to consider briefly what are 

 the main peculiarities of Australian vegetation, from which 

 so important a part of that of New Zealand has evidently 

 been derived. 



New Zealand was never absolutely united with Australia, or that the union 

 was at a very remote period when Leguminosse were either not differentiated 

 or comparatively rare. 



