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On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection

Charles Darwin · 1837-1859 (major composition period; published 1859) primary

passage 225 of 299 · CHAPTER I. VARIATION UNDER DOMESTICATION. > CHAPTER XI. (19/22)

in brief
He notes that many northern-temperate-looking species found in southern hemispheres and tropical mountains are not arctic, and discusses how Alpine floras become less arctic toward the tropics, mixing identical and distinct forms.

forms of fish. Dr. Hooker informs me that twenty-five species of Algæ are common to New Zealand and to Europe, but have not been found in the intermediate tropical seas.

It should be observed that the northern species and forms found in the southern parts of the southern hemisphere, and on the mountain-ranges of the intertropical regions, are not arctic, but belong to the northern temperate zones. As Mr. H. C. Watson has recently remarked, “In receding from polar towards equatorial latitudes, the Alpine or mountain floras really become less and less arctic.” Many of the forms living on the mountains of the warmer regions of the earth and in the southern hemisphere are of doubtful value, being ranked by some naturalists as specifically distinct, by others as varieties; but some are certainly identical, and many, though closely related to northern forms, must be ranked as distinct species.

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topics: plants and cultivation · species, variation, and descent · weather, storms, and the seasons

On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection · Charles Darwin · 1837–1859