Flora of Lord Auckland and Campbell's Islands facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Flora of Lord Auckland and Campbell's Islands

Title page with an etching of Victoria Barrier with Mount Erebus and Mount Terror
Author	Joseph Dalton Hooker
Illustrator	Walter Hood Fitch
Country	England
Language	English
Series	Monthly parts
Subject	Botany
Publisher	Reeve Brothers
Publication date	1843–1845

The Flora of Lord Auckland and Campbell's Islands is a description of the plants discovered in those islands during the Ross expedition written by Joseph Dalton Hooker and published by Reeve Brothers in London between 1843 and 1845. Hooker sailed on HMS Erebus as assistant surgeon. It was the first in a series of four Floras in the Flora Antarctica, the others being the Flora of Fuegia, the Falklands, Kerguellen's land, etc (1845–1847), the Flora Novae-Zelandiae (1851–53), and the Flora Tasmaniae (1853–59). They were "splendidly" illustrated by Walter Hood Fitch.

The larger part of the plant specimens collected during the Ross expedition are now part of the Kew Herbarium.

Context

The British government fitted out an expedition led by James Clark Ross to investigate magnetism and marine geography in high southern latitudes, which sailed with two ships, HMS Terror and HMS Erebus on 29 September 1839 from Chatham.

The ships arrived, after several stops, at the Cape of Good Hope on 4 April 1840. On 21 April the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera was found off Marion Island, but no landfall could be made there or on the Crozet Islands due to the harsh winds. On 12 May the ships anchored at Christmas Harbour for two and a half months, during which all the plant species previously encountered by James Cook on the Kerguelen Islands were collected. On 16 August they reached the River Derwent, remaining in Tasmania until 12 November. A week later the flotilla stopped at Lord Auckland's Islands and Campbell's Island for the spring months.

Large floating forests of Macrocystis and Durvillaea were found until the ships ran into icebergs at latitude 61° S. Pack-ice was met at 68° S and longitude 175°. During this part of the voyage Victoria Land, Mount Erebus and Mount Terror were discovered. After returning to Tasmania for three months, the flotilla went via Sydney to the Bay of Islands, and stayed for three months in New Zealand to collect plants there. After visiting other islands, the ships returned to the Cape of Good Hope on 4 April 1843. At the end of the journey specimens of some fifteen hundred plant species had been collected and preserved.

Species

According to Hooker, the flora of the islands south of Tasmania and New Zealand is related to that of New Zealand and bears no likeness to that of Australia. On the Auckland Islands wood grows near the sea and consists of the tree Metrosideros umbellata intermixed with woody Dracophyllum, Coprosma, Hebe (assigned to Veronica by Hooker) and Panax. These are undergrown by many ferns. Higher up grow alpines. On the Campbell Islands brushwood is limited to narrow bays which are relatively sheltered. These islands are steeper and rocky and have bear less vegetation, primarily grasses.

Plants collected by Hooker from Auckland and Campbell Islands are listed below. Species described by him should be cited with his acronym Hook.f. (Hooker filius), but this has not been applied here for brevity. Species already described by other authors are indicated though. Where applicable and as far as possible, the corrected botanical names, and the currently accepted name have been indicated accompanied by the abbreviated author names.

Seedplants

Myosotis capitata (Plate XXXVII)

Ranunculus pinguis (Plate I)

The following seedplants are described by Hooker in Flora Antarctica.

Ferns and clubmosses

Lycopodium clavatum is a cosmopolitan species

The following ferns and clubmosses are described by Hooker in Flora Antarctica from the Auckland and Campbell Islands.

Mosses

The species Hypnum aciculare found on Auckland's Islands is now called Ptychomnion aciculare

The following mosses are described by Hooker in Flora Antarctica from the Auckland and Campbell Islands.

Liverworts

Plate LXII, left to right, than top to bottom: I Hookeria pulchella, II H. denticulata, III H. pennata, IV: Jungermannia stygia, V J. acinacifolia, VI: J. ochrophylla, VII J. perigonialis, VIII J. occlusa, IX J. strongylophylla

Jungermannia atrovirens

J. multifida, now assigned to Riccardia

The Flora Antarctica contains a very large number of liverwort species from the Auckland and Campbell Islands, at that time almost all assigned to the genus Jungermannia. Of the 82 species mentioned in the Flora Antarctica, 79 have since been reassigned to other genera in the Jungermanniales. Hooker credits the scientists in the Cryptogamic Botany Department, especially Thomas Taylor, for their expertise and cooperation in preparing the sections on mosses, liverworts and lichens. The species published under their common authorship are generally indicated by Hook.f & Taylor. This has been omitted in this section for brevity. Authors are also not indicated with type species that have later been transferred to another genus while retaining the original species epithet, because this authority appears in the new combination between brackets. All other author (combinations) were indicated though.

Green algae

Red algae

Brown algae

Diatoms

• Schizonema crispum Mont..

Lichens

The lichen "Sticta freycinetii" (Pseudocyphellaria glabra)

Fungi

The following fungi are described by Hooker in Flora Antarctica from the Auckland and Campbell Islands.