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Asa Gray disjunction

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The Asa Gray disjunction, also known as the Eastern Asian–Eastern North American disjunction, refers to a biogeographical pattern or biogeographical phenomenon in which closely related plant, fungi and animal species are found in temperate forests of eastern Asia and eastern North America, but not in Western North America or Europe. This striking distribution pattern was first systematically documented by American botanist Asa Gray in the mid-19th century, who noted the remarkable floristic similarities between the two distant regions. Gray’s observations were foundational in both plant and animal geography and evolutionary theory, providing early support for Charles Darwin's ideas of common descent and speciation. The phenomenon includes over 65 flowering plant genera alone.