CHAPTER XXII. 
THE FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND: ITS AFFINITIES 
AND PROBABLE ORIGIN. 
Relations of the New Zealand Flora to that of Australia — General features 
of the Australian Flora — The Floras of South-eastern and South-western 
Australia — Geological explanation of the differences of these two 
Floras — The origin of the Australian element in the New Zealand Flora 
— Tropical character of the New Zealand Flora explained — Species 
common to New Zealand and Australia mostly temperate forms — Why 
easily dispersed plants have often restricted ranges — Summary and 
Conclusion on the New Zealand Flora. 
Although plants have means of dispersal far exceeding those 
possessed by animals, yet as a matter of fact comparatively few 
species are carried for very great distances, and the flora of a 
country taken as a whole usually affords trustworthy indications 
of its past history. Plants, too, are more numerous in species 
than the higher animals, and are almost always better known ; 
their affinities have been more systematically studied ; and it may 
be safely affirmed that no explanation of the origin of the fauna 
of a country can be sound, which does not also explain, or at 
least harmonise with, the distribution and relations of its flora. 
The relations of the flora of New Zealand to that of Aus- 
tralia have long formed an insoluble enigma for botanists. Sir 
Joseph Hooker, in his most instructive and masterly essay on 
the flora of Australia, says : — “ Under whatever aspect I 
regard the flora of Australia and of New Zealand, I find all 
attempts to theorise on the possible causes of their community 
of feature frustrated by anomalies in distribution, such as I 
