r. Of the 490 species, about 57 per cent. are peculiar to
the island; 13 per cent. are widely dispersed species; 12 per cent.
are common to the island and Central America, together with the warmer
parts of South America and Mexico; 3 per cent. are common to it with
the United States, especially the Southern; while 13 per cent. are
European species, including, however, 13 which may be considered as
cosmopolitan. Some common tropical species do not occur, and, on the
whole, the general character seems sub-tropical rather than tropical.
Many of the species are decidedly those of temperate regions, or at
least nearly allied. Perhaps the most interesting species are those
which occur in the genera _Craterellus_ and _Laschia_, the latter
genus, especially, yielding several new forms. The fact that the
climate is, on the whole, more temperate than that of some other
islands in the same latitudes, would lead us to expect the presence of
a comparatively large number of European species, or those which are
found in the more northern United States, or British North America,
and may account for the fact that so small a proportion of species
should be identical with those from neighbouring islands.

In Central America only a few small collections have been made, which
indicate a sub-tropical region.

From the northern parts of South America, M. Leprieur collected in
French Guiana.[W] Southwards of this, Spruce collected in the
countries bordering on the River Amazon, and Gardner in Brazil,[X]
Gaudichaud in Chili and Peru,[Y] Gay in Chili,[Z] Blanchet in
Bahia,[a] Weddell in Brazil,[b] and Auguste de Saint Hiliare[c] in
the same country. Small collections have also been made in the
extreme south. All these collections contain coriaceous species of
_Polyporus_, _Favolus_, and allied genera, with _Auricularini_,
together with such _Ascomycetes_ as _Xylaria_, and such forms of
_Peziza_ as _P. tricholoma_, _P. Hindsii_, and _P. macrotis_. As
yet we cannot form an estimate of the extent or variety of the
South American flora, which has furnished the interesting genus
_Cyttaria_, and may yet supply forms unrecognized elsewhere.

The island of Juan Fernandez furnished to M. Bertero a good
representative collection,[d] which is remarkable as containing more
than one-half its number of European species, and the rest possessing
rather the character of those of a temperate than a sub-tropical
region.

Australasia has been partly explored,