THE VASCULAR FLORA OF MACQUARIE ISLAND.—CHEESEMAN. 
As for the mode in which the islands were repopulated, I agree with Schimper 
and Schenk in considering that it was mainly effected through the agency of birds, 
carried before the prevailing westerly winds. On this point, Professor Rudmose Brown 
very aptly says (Problems of Antarctic Plant Life, p. 6), “ Almost everywhere that 
snow-free land occurs on the coast of Antarctica in summer, innumerable birds find 
nesting places, and these are the places where or near most of the vegetation occurs.” 
It is possible that wind-transport may also be more efficient than I previously supposed, 
judging from the discovery made by Dr. F. E. Fritsch of pollen-grains of Podocarpus 
among patches of red-snow on the South Orkneys. As Professor Rudmose Brown 
states, these pollen-grains can only have come from South America. But if such can be 
carried, surely the seeds of phanerogams may also be conveyed. 
In conclusion, it is evident that the present flora of Macquarie Island, excepting 
only the three endemic grasses, does not date further back than the close of the last 
glacial epoch. Since then, in agreement with the other islands of the subantarctic 
zone, its history has been a history of plant-migration, mainly from the New Zealand 
outlying islands, but in some cases from the far-distant Kerguelen Group—as, for 
instance, Ranunculus hiternatus, Acama adscende?is, Azorella Selago, and Festuca erecta. 
But if Macquarie Island existed in Early Tertiary times, when we know that Antarctica 
was peopled with a rich and luxuriant flora, and when in all probability geographical 
and climatic considerations co-operated in facilitating intercourse between Antarctica 
and the New Zealand area, then its position would be of the utmost consequence. It 
would occupy an important stage in a chain of plant migrations that might have 
extended from Chili to Antarctica and from Antarctica to the north of New Zealand— 
a chain that has left traces still visible in the floras of both New Zealand and South 
America. 
