CHAP. XXII.] THE FLOIIA OF NEW ZEALAND. ' 459 



are also Antarctic, South American, or European ; so that there 

 are only about 100 species absolutely confined to New Zealand 

 and Australia, and, what is important as indicating a somewhat 

 recent immigration, only six of these belong to genera which 

 iare peculiar to the two countries, and hardly any to the larger 

 and more important Australian genera. Many, too, are rare 

 species in both countries and are often alpines. 



Far more important are the relations of the genera and 

 families of the two countries. All the Natural Orders of Nevf 

 Zealand are found in Australia except three — Coriarise, a 

 widely-scattered group found in South Europe, the Himalayas, 

 and the Andes ; Escallonieae, a widely distributed group ; and 

 Chloranthace^e, found in Tropical Asia, Japan, Polynesia, 

 and South America. Out of a total of 303 New Zealand 

 genera, no less than 251 are Australian, and sixty of these are 

 almost peculiar to the two countries, only thirty-two however 

 being absolutely confined to them. In the three large orders — 

 Compositos, Orchidege, and Graminese, the genera are 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, indicated 

 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 

 HaJcea. 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 Zealand, five are represented by one or two 

 species, and only two are fairly represented ; but these two — 

 Broscra and HelicJirysum, are very widespread genera, and might 

 have reached New Zealand from other countries than Australia. 



