BULLETIN 
OF THE 
TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB 
Vol. Xll.l New York, May, 1885. [No. 6. 
Notes on the Winter Flora of Bermuda. 
By J. F. Kemp. 
The Bermuda Islands consist of a group situated off the coast of 
the United States in N. Lat. 32° 14' 45", W. Long. 64'' 40' 55" 
They are thus on nearly the same parallel of latitude as Charleston, 
S. C, and the same meridian as Halifax, N. S. As a British military 
and naval station they are of importance disproportionate to their 
small extent. Geologically, the formation is a coral island of the 
atoll type, but the portions above water, and indeed almost all the 
visible and investigated portions below water, are chiefly of ^olian 
origin, and have evidently been heaped up precisely as the peninsula 
of Florida has been pushed seaward. The inhabitable part is entirely 
on the south and south-western side of the ring, an evident conse- 
quence of the prevailing south-west winds. In addition to the more 
common and extensive soft sand-rock, which is evidently of very 
recent formation, there is a narrow ridge of hard, almost crystalline 
limestone, which is not fossiliferous, which appears to be older 
than the remainder and to have undergone some metamorphic action. 
It is honeycombed with caves, and bears the most interesting part of 
the insular flora and the larger portion of those plants which seem to 
have been introduced by natural as distinguished from artificial 
n^eans.* 
The general aspect of the country is similar to the rolling sand- 
dunes of Long Island, except that they are worn into perpendicular 
cliffs along the shore in many places. The coral sand becomes 
<^emented on exposure into a compact rock, contrasting in this respect 
very strongly with the silicious beaches familiar to us. Above the 
^ater line the exposed faces of the cliffs exhibit the stratified struc- 
ture due to their origin, but, below it, from some influence of the water, 
^hey are apparently massive. In the little bays which indent the 
^oast are stretches of beach sand of a rich creamy color, which sup- 
port a scrubby growth of shrubs back from the water line. 
The most important chemical constituents of this sand are shown in 
the first analysis below. It has doubtless been the source of the 
other soil whose composition is shown in the second, third and fourth 
analyses. This fills the hollows back from the shore, is of a red color, . 
supports the market gardens, and is the great source of wealth to the 
inhabitants. It has evidently resulted from the leaching of the coral 
sand by rains, the soluble lime being removed and the less soluble 
constituents concentrated. 
•Cf. Bulletin 25. U. S. Nat'l. Museum. List of Plants by Governor Lefroy. 
