Bd. III: 14) 
THE MESOZOIC FLORA. 
105 
even if this were the case, it must be admitted that any freshwater plant might have 
drifted into the sea with the rivers. The nature of the plant-remains themselves, 
however, as is also mentioned by J. G. Andersson, gives quite sufficient information 
as to how they were deposited. The specimens are often very large and very little 
damaged, with the long branches and large pinnæ unbroken. It may be sufficient to 
mention such examples as the specimens of Cladophlebis dentlcnlata (pi. 2, fig. 8), C. 
antar ctica (pi. i), Pseudoctenis ensiforinis (pi. 6, fig. 8), and Elatocladus conferta 
(pi. 8, fig. 26). Very delicate structures are preserved, too, such as the hairs on the 
Cycadolepis in pi. 6, fig. 15, and the stalks of the sori in Coniopteris hynienophvl- 
loides (pi. 3, fig. 29), which could not have withstood a long transport in water. 
Though there are often several different species in one and the same slab of the 
rock — which is only natural in view of the abundance of the specimens — • there is 
a very marked tendency of plant-remains of the same kind to occur together. A 
fine example of this is afforded by the large slab covered with fronds of Nilssonia 
tœniopteroides, figured in pi. 5. Another large piece of rock shows a great number 
of specimens of Elatocladus conferta. All these facts tend to prove that the plant- 
remains cannot have undergone any long transport; and in the cases of marked as- 
sociation of specimens of the same kind, there can hardly have been any transport 
worth mentioning. It seems to be quite certain, therefore, that the fossil flora of 
Hope Bay was preserved near its habitat and thus represents a portion of the vegeta- 
tion that flourished in Graham Land in Jurassic times. 
The locality at Hope Bay lies in Lat. 63° 15' S. It is thus situated outside the 
Antarctic Circle, but the present climate is entirely Antarctic: the land is for the most 
part glaciated, and the higher vegetation of the Graham Land region consists only 
of two species of vascular plants. The existence of a rich vegetation here in Jurassic 
times is of course not surprising in view of the occurrence of Mesozoic floras at much 
higher latitudes in the Arctic region. Yet it is interesting to note that the Jurassic 
plant-remains often attain a large size, showing no difference in this respect from the 
Jurassic plants from England or India. There is no dwindling of the forms such as 
has been stated in regard to certain Mesozoic floras at high latitudes in the Arctic, 
and no remarkable reduction of certain groups such as is reported also to occur in 
the Arctic floras mentioned (NathorST, 1897). The absence of the Ginkgoales 
cannot well have any bearing on this point, since it is common with the Indian 
Jurassic, whereas this group is well represented in the northernmost Arctic Mesozoic 
floras. A comparison of the Hope Bay flora with the contemporaneous Arctic floras 
gives the result that no close resemblance can be found. This is seen from the table 
of correlation given above; but the actual difference is even greater than is indicated 
there. Just the characteristic groups of each of these Polar floras, the Ginkgoales 
in the Arctic and the Cycadophyta in the Antarctic are wanting or rare in the other. 
14 — 122943. Schzvedisctie Siidpolar-Expedilion igoi — igoj. 
