On the Origin of the Thermal Flora

The American naturalist, W . H. W e e d, was the first who pointed out the possibillity that plants found' in hot springs might be the oldest organisms on the earth. In his paper on »The Vege­ tation of Hot Springs« printed already in 1889., he said: »The1 ability possessed by the vegetation found in such waters to withstand such extreme and adverse conditions of environment shows the possible existence of this form of life during the early history of our globe, when the crust of the earth is supposed to have been covered with hot and highlymineralized waters. Such plants may thus represent the earliest links in the chain of evo­ lution.« This idea of W e e d made B. M. D a v i s so enthusiastic that he added' the following refrain in his song to the Thermal-Flora of Yellowstone: »Children of steam and scalded rock, What is the story you have to tell, Our legends are old, of greater age Than the mountains round about.«