Lord Howe Island, Part 3-— Paramonov 
367 
( Howeania ) , then the peculiarities of the fauna 
and flora of the island can be explained easily. 
The absence of typical Australian elements 
was caused by the very wide and deep part of 
the sea in between, which acted as an impas- 
sable barrier. 
The presence of Australian elements which 
are not typical for the Australian fauna can 
be explained by the very narrow strait in the 
north (see dotted line of Tropic). It permit- 
ted the penetration of tropical elements, whilst 
the elements more adapted to moderate cli- 
mate could reach the island from the south, 
where there was a broad land connection with 
New Zealand. 
The very essential difference between the 
faunas of Lord Howe and Norfolk Island may 
be explained by the very large and deep sea 
area extending eastwards from Howeania. Since 
it is about halfway between New Caledonia and 
New Zealand and was connected to them by 
land, Norfolk Island contains elements of both 
countries. 
The New Zealand elements are not repre- 
sented so well on Lord Howe Island because 
the ecological conditions are very limited spa- 
tially, and they are confined mostly to the moun- 
tain summits of the island. 
We have reached all these conclusions after 
attentive study of the animals and plants, de- 
tails of which can not be demonstrated in a 
work of this size. The author reached these 
conclusions before consultation of the above 
map showed the distribution of the deep and 
the shallow portions of the sea. The illustrated 
structure of the sea bottom fully supports the 
author’s considerations, which are not purely 
theoretical speculations based on the study of 
biology, but reflect also the history of the land 
masses in the discussed area. Here we have a 
working theory for reconstruction of the his- 
tory of the island and its life. The theory also 
explains satisfactorily the history of the basic 
part of the island’s fauna. 
With regard to the immigrants which 
reached the island after the submergence of 
Howeania, the position is less satisfactory: first, 
there is a lack of data about the fauna of the 
island; second, data are lacking about the dis- 
tribution of organisms in the surrounding areas. 
Without these data, reconstruction of the his- 
tory of the fauna and flora is impossible. 
Regarding comparatively recent immigrants, 
we must consider the role of man in the dis- 
tribution of plants and animals. Early whalers 
must have played a considerable part. If, for 
example, we find on the island a plant which 
has a strange, widely interrupted distribution, 
such as South Africa and the island, and grows 
near the sea shores, we have grounds to sus- 
pect that the plant has been transported by 
ships. As an example, we may cite the case 
of the so-called "African water lily” in Aus- 
tralia ( Aponogeton distachyum, or Cape Pond 
Lily). The author found the lily in 1947 in the 
lagoon at Lome, Victoria. This plant is very 
abundant there, and in July the entire lagoon 
is covered with the white flowers. The lily is 
rapidly diminishing in numbers, however, and 
we must predict that sooner or later it will 
disappear from the lagoon. 
During the last century whalers introduced 
many animals and plants along the sea shores 
which they visited. One of the island’s chief 
industries began in this fashion, i. e., the cul- 
ture of the high quality onion, some bulbs of 
which had been washed ashore, found by an 
island woman, and planted. 
COMPOSITION OF THE FLORA 
Oliver (1917) gave an analysis of the com- 
position of the island’s flora. Although the data 
are outdated in nomenclature, the conclusions 
may be regarded as valid. 
Of the 169 genera of vascular plants repre- 
sented on Lord Howe Island 4 are endemic. 
Of these 4 genera, Colmeiroa and Hedyscepe 
are allied to New Zealand forms, Negria to 
both New Zealand and New Caledonian genera, 
and Howea to Malayan and tropical Australian 
genera. 
If the five species belonging to these 4 genera 
be taken as modified descendants of species 
which arrived via a land bridge, then they 
would indicate a New Caledonia-New Zealand 
migration, with the land connection severed 
first at the southern end, thus accounting for 
a greater degree of peculiarity for the species 
related to New Zealand forms. 
