FLORA OF THE ISLAND OF SHIKOTAN. 435 
The Flora of the Island of Shikotan. By Hisavosur TAKÉDA, D.I.C., 
Demonstrator in Botany, Imperial College of Science and Technology, 
London, (Communicated by Dr. Orro Srarr, F.R.S., Sec. L.S.) 
(With Mar.) 
Read 17th April, 1913. 
I 
GENERAL FEATURES OF THE ISLAND. 
SHIKOTAN is a small island lying about sixty miles off the Port of Nemuro, in 
the extreme east of Yezo (Hokkaidó). Its longitude extends roughly from 
1469 29' to 55' east of Greenwich, and its latitude from 43? 35' to 52' N. 
Geologically speaking, this island really belongs to Yezo, and is also more 
or less connected with the latter by about a dozen small islands scattered 
in a row between them. Geographically speaking, however, it is situated 
quite close to the southern parts of the Kuriles, and is subject to similar 
climatic conditions, so that we may as well regard it as one of the Kurile 
Islands. Administratively, the island is at present included in the Kuriles ; 
and its flora it also shares with that archipelago. 
The island is oblong in form, with a very sinuous coast-line of some 
hundred miles, affording two good harbours and several coves. The coast 
is precipitous, as in the other islands of the Kuriles; sandy beaches are 
rather feebly developed. I have been unable to lay my hand on any reliable 
information about the area of our island. It would, perhaps, not exceed 
140 square miles *. The surface of the island is extremely undulated with 
not a few mountains and many small hills. On the southern coast a range 
of mountains runs parallel with the long axis of the island, in which the 
majority of the streams have their sources. There are also several mountains 
on the northern coast, but they do not form a continuous range, being cut by 
valleys. A few others are on the eastern and western coasts. The highest 
mountain, Shakotan-yama, is a cone of 1357 ft. in altitude, and stands near 
Shakotan harbour, towering above the sea. Its north-eastern half has been 
almost completely removed by the action of waves and currents, resulting 
in an almost vertical precipice of some 1000 ft. None of these mountains 
is of new voleanie formation; nor are any hot springs or traces of sulphur 
known in the island, so that all the water, except that of bogs, is drink- 
able. The centre is occupied by small hills and swamps and bogs, and a 
section of the island would roughly be a shallow concave. The streams ou 
the southern coast are short, and their gradient is comparatively pronounced, 
* Much the same as the area of the Isle of Wight. 
LINN. JOURN.,—BOTANY, VOL. XLII, 2a 
