4. “Grundzüge der Pflanzenverbreitung in Chile,”

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 42, 1909, Page 64

4. “Grundzüge der Pflanzenverbreitung in Chile,” by Karl Reiche. (Bd. viii der “Vegetation der Erde,” herausgegeben von A. Engler und O. Drude. i-xiv und 1–374 pp., mit 55 Fig. im Text und Tafeln, und 2 Karten. Leipzig, Engelmann; 1907.) The fourth part of this comprehensive work deals with the relation of the Chilian flora to other floras, and Chapter ii is devoted to its relationship with that of New Zealand, the various elements being respectively designated “tropical,” “austral” (southern extremity of South America), “antarctic,” and represented by the following signs: “trop.,” “aus.,” “ant.” Lists are given of the families identical to the two regions, 83 in number; of the identical genera without identical species, 101 in number, some of which have species closely related in both floras; of identical species, 65 in number; of families occurring in New Zealand but absent in Chile, 11 in number; and of families occurring in Chile but absent in New Zealand, 44 in number. Regarding mosses, 50 species are common to the Magellan region (45o to 56o) and to New Zealand and Tasmania, one or both. With regard to drawing any conclusions from a statistical study of the respective floras, the author points out that New Zealand extends through far fewer degrees of latitude, corresponding merely to the part of Chile lying between the Province of Colchagua, 34 ½o, and the Gulf of Penas, 47 ½o. This excludes the whole of the northern desert flora, and many types of the extreme south. Such a limitation, the reviewer would point out, does not recognise the new botanical region as extending.

The author draws the following conclusions from his analysis of the tow floras:- 1. Amongst the identical families many are of very veneral distribution; others, such as the Eloecarpaceæ, Aristoteliæ, Cunoniaceæ, Halorrhagaceæ, &c, are of wide distribution over the Southern Hempishere; others again have ther headquarters m the tropics, extending thence into the neighbouring regions (sapindaceæ, Anacardiaceæ, &c.). 2. The comparison of identical genera not possessing identical species emphasizes the correspondence with genera of the Southern Hempshire, and expecially of the Antarctic region, more than does a comparison of families, the the ferns alone showing a special affinity to the tropical flora. 3. The identical species are either markedly ubiquitous, as along the coast-line, or belong to the Southern Hempishere in general, while of special interest are the numerous Antarctic species. 4. Regarding the families which occur in New Zeland but not in Chile, Some have wide distrubution (Caprfolaceæ and pittosproaceæ), others belong to the tropics, and stackhousaceæ and Myoporaceæ are Australian types. 5. As for the families found in chile but not in New Zeland, naturally many are American, whilst some are confined to Chile (especially Andine South America or juan Fernandez). The greater number of genera in these families than in (4) depends upon the greater extent of Chile, and morever, on the fact that it is bound by land to the rest of South America, whereas New Zealand is an archipelago. Finally, it must be pointed out that the Eucryphiacœ of southern Chile are absent in New Zealand, but occur in Australia. L. C.