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CHAPTER V. 
A COMPARISON OF THE EARLIER MESOZOIC FLORAS OF NEW ZEALAND 
WITH THOSE OCCURRING ELSEWHERE. 
I pass now to a comparison of the earlier Mesozoic floras of New Zealand with 
those occurring in Mesozoic rocks in the Southern Hemisphere and elsewhere. 
Commencing with the Rhaetic floras of Mount Potts, the Clent Hills, and perhaps 
the Catlin’s River, we have to deal with a vegetation which does not appear to be, as 
a whole, specifically identical with that of the same age occurring in Australia, South 
Africa, and in various localities in the Northern Hemisphere. The commonest plant in 
the Rhaetic of New Zealand, as in the Jurassic and perhaps also the Lower Cretaceous, 
is that great weed of Mesozoic times, if I may so term it, Cladophlebis australis (Morr.). 
This species occurs in vast abundance in the Mesozoic rocks throughout the Southern 
Hemisphere, and seems, like the Bracken-fern of to-day, to have flourished in many 
widely separated areas with the greatest vigour and success. Next in frequency among 
the ferns we have several species of Thinnfelclia The genus is very abundant in the 
earlier Mesozoic rocks of Australia and Tasmania, and also occurs in beds of the same 
age elsewhere. In the possible occurrence of Thinnfelclia argentinica (Gein.) we have a 
South American Rhaetic fossil. 
Of the Coniferous remains, the widely spread species Elatocladus conferta (0. & M.) 
occurs abundantly in New Zealand in both the Rhaetic and Jurassic. The distribution 
of this plant at the latter period extended from India to Antarctica(l). Of the rarer 
types, Phyllotheca minuta sp. nov. appears to be new, though the same genus occurred 
in Australia, South Africa, and even in Europe in Rhaetic times. Linguifolium (which 
in New Zealand is both Rhaetic and Lower Jurassic) is represented in the Mesozoic rocks 
of Australia, and Chiropteris in the Rhaetic of South Africa and in Mesozoic beds in 
South America and Australia, but apparently in both cases by species distinct from those 
found in New Zealand. Dictyophyllum acutilobum (Braun) is widely spread in the Rhaetic 
of Europe. 
Representatives of the Ginkgoales appear to be rare in New Zealand. Baiera 
robusta, a new species, but very similar to certain Rhaetic Baieras occurring in Europe, 
is the sole record of this group from New Zealand. 
In Tceniopteris Daintreei we have a species more abundant in the Jurassic than the 
Rhaetic. 
The Mesophytic flora of New Zealand affords another illustration of the similarity of 
the Rhaetic to the Lower Jurassic flora. Nearly all the genera and many of the species 
occurring in New Zealand are common to the two horizons. Some genera, among 
others Microphyllopteris, Goniopteris, Osmundites, and most of the representatives of 
the Cycadophyta and Coniferales, found in New Zealand appear to be unknown from 
the Rhaetic. 
The Jurassic flora includes Equisetites Nicoli sp. nov., closely hllied to other species 
of the same genus, occurring in the Jurassic rocks of England, Scotland, and Siberia. 
Cladophlebis denticulata (Brongn.), as well as C. australis (Morr.), occurs. The former 
is also common in England and in other parts of the world, including Antarctica. 
Linguifolium occurs in the Jurassic as well as the Rhaetic, and the same is true of 
Dictyophyllum acutilobum (Braun) and various species of Thinnfeldia. Thinnfeldia 
Feistmanteli (Goth.), however, appears to be a Jurassic rather than a Rhaetic species. In 
Tceniopteris crassinervis (Feist.) and T. vittata Brongn. we have two thoroughly Jurassic 
(i) Haile (1913 1 ). 
