5§7 
Dispersal of Herbaceous Angiospernis. 
region. Under ‘ endemic’ genera are included both those which are quite 
peculiar to the region, and also those which have their centre of distribution 
here, but a few species running up into Chile. 
% Total Species. 
Indigenous species 1,587 
Species of non-endemic genera 920 
Species of endemic genera 667 
Herbs. % Herbs. 
1,120 71 
800 87 
320 48 
The ancient element here, like that in the other floras which we have 
studied, is very much more woody than the younger portion. Most of the 
herbaceous endemic genera, as in New Zealand, are alpine forms and seem 
to have been developed locally as an adaptation to the increasing refrigera- 
tion of the climate. The great bulk of the herbs, however, belong to such 
genera as Myosotis , Ranunculus , Gentiana , Anemone , Viola , and many others 
which are characteristically north temperate in distribution, and which have 
evidently entered South America along the Andes from their centre of 
dispersal in the northern hemisphere. 98 out of 515 genera in Macloskie’s 
‘ Flora ’ are typically northern plants, and 93 of these are herbs, or 95 per 
cent. It is reasonable to infer that if Patagonia had been as widely isolated 
as New Zealand, it would display the same predominance of woody forms 
in its vegetation. 
D. South Africa. 
South Africa is also open freely to immigration from a large continental 
area, but it supports a flora which is very rich and peculiar. The following 
table is a brief analysis of the dicotyledonous portion. ‘ Endemic ’ genera 
are those which are entirely confined to South Africa, or have the great 
majority of their species within that region. 
Indigenous species .... 
Species of non-endemic genera 
Species of endemic genera . 
Total Species. Herbs. % Herbs. 
7,984 3,319 42 
3,298 1,929 58 
4,686 1,390 30 
The most ancient element in the flora, the species of the endemic 
genera, thus contains a very much smaller proportion of herbs than does 
the more recent element, the non-endemic types. It should be stated that 
many of the ‘ woody ’ plants are small, and that there are comparatively 
few trees. 
Africa was in all probability isolated from the north temperate land 
area during at least the early part of the Tertiary, and it has been suggested 
that this South African flora is a remnant of the ancient vegetation of the 
continent, for a distinct South African affinity is evident in the widely distant 
floras of Mediterranean Africa, the Canaries, Socotra, the Abyssinian and 
tropical highlands, Angola, the Cameroons, and Fernando Po. But 
whether or not this typical Cape flora was once dominant throughout Africa, 
