General Comment on the New Zealand Subantarctic Flora

From this review of the plants of New Zealand's subantarctic islands it is clear that their floras are quite closely related. In total about 200 species are currently recognised. In an earlier review Cheeseman¹⁶⁷ estimated that 27.5 per cent of the total New Zealand subantarctic flora was endemic, 69 per cent shared with New Zealand and in some cases other lands, and 3.5 per cent with other circumpolar islands and/or southern South America, but not New Zealand.

The New Zealand mainland and subantarctic island floras are closely related, but the significant level of endemism of the latter suggests that it has had a relatively long history.