Dispersal of Herbaceous A ngiosperms. 585 
tion has resulted in the development of a highly endemic flora, 1,143 out °f 
1,571 species of vascular plants being peculiar to the Dominion, and 872- out 
of i,o 26 species of Dicotyledons. An analysis of the various elements in the 
dicotyledonous flora is set forth in the accompanying table : 
Total Species. 
Herbs. 
% Herbs . 
Indigenous species (both islands) .... 
1,026 
569 
569 
55 
Indigenous species (North Island) .... 
297 
5 2 
Indigenous species (South Island) .... 
457 
272 
60 
Non-endemic species . 
1 54 
125 
81 
Endemic species of non-endemic genera . . 
811 
432 
53 
Species of strictly endemic genera .... 
Species of 1 nearly endemic ’ genera . . . 
61 
12 
20 
254 
97 
38 
Species of endemic or nearly endemic alpine 
genera ..... 
95 
87 
92 
Species of endemic or nearly endemic low- 
land genera 
156 
9 
6 
The same fact is shown by these figures which we have so often 
observed in the composition of other ancient floras : that the most ancient 
element contains an overwhelming proportion of woody plants, that the 
next younger has a much larger herbaceous representation, and that the 
most recent portion of all is almost entirely herbaceous. The endemic and 
nearly endemic genera, therefore, are to be regarded as representatives of 
that ancient vegetation, woody in character, which seems to have been 
dominant in early Tertiary times. 
The herbaceous portion of the New Zealand flora, like that of 
Australia, is composed of two distinct elements, one consisting mainly 
of northern and the other of endemic genera. The north temperate 
element in the flora is very conspicuous, for 115 New Zealand genera (more 
than one-third of the total) occur also in Europe, most of them being 
characteristic northern plants, and even 58 species are identical in the two 
regions. Of the 72 genera of Dicotyledons which are typically northern in 
character, 2, or only 3 per cent., are woody. Practically the entire element 
introduced into the flora from the north temperate zone is therefore 
herbaceous, in strong contrast to the endemic vegetation. These northern 
forms are most numerous in the cooler upland districts of the South 
Island. 
There are, however, 23 of the endemic or nearly endemic genera, 
containing 97 species, which are composed of herbs. These include such 
typically Antarctic forms as Colobanthus , Donatia , Aciphylla , Celmisia , and 
Abrotanella ; and others which are confined entirely to New Zealand, as 
Pachycladon , Notothlaspi , Haastia, Colensoa , and others. 18 genera and 
88 species, an overwhelming majority, are characteristically alpine, as the 
table indicates. The concentration of so many herbaceous forms in the 
mountains makes the percentage of these plants in the South Island, which 
contains most of the mountains of the Dominion, greater than that in the 
North Island. 
