Observations of a Naturalist in the Pacific Between 1896 and 1899, Volume 2 / Plant-Dispersal

by H. B. Guppy

Synopsis of the Eras of the Flowering Plants in the Tropical Pacific.

A. The Era of the Endemic Genera.—Mostly American in their affinities. Represented particularly by Compositæ and Lobeliaceæ.

B. The Era of Non-Endemic Genera.

(1) The mountain genera, either cosmopolitan in temperate latitudes or derived from the New Zealand or the Antarctic flora. Mostly represented in Hawaii.

(2) The genera forming the low-level flora of Hawaii below 4,000 or 5,000 feet and composing almost the entire floras of the Fijian and Tahitian regions. Predominantly Indo-Malayan.

(a) The age of general dispersal over the tropical Pacific, the genera with only peculiar species being first treated, and afterwards those possessing a non-endemic element.

(b) The age of local dispersal over the tropical Pacific.