268 MR. T. F. CHEESEMAN ON 
In moist shaded places Phaius grandifolius is often exceedingly plentiful. Its broad 
plaited leaves and tall spikes, often 4 to 6 feet high, with 12 to 15 large pale brownish- 
violet flowers, make it a very handsome plant. In many places I also noticed an 
undescribed Habenaria, with a tall naked stem furnished at the top with a rosette of 
spreading glossy leaves, from amongst which springs a slender spike of greenish flowers. 
It appears to be allied to the Fijian H. superflua. 
At the sources of all the streams, and in damp shady places on the higher slopes of 
the mountains, the wild plantain (Musa Fehi) is most abundant, often forming dense 
groves, acres in extent, to the exclusion of all other vegetation. It is distinguished at a 
glance from the common banana by the dark-coloured, almost black, base of the stem, 
by the firm and more erect leaves, and especially by the erect bunches of red fruit. The 
natives make regular expeditions up the mountain valleys to collect the fruit, which is 
almost always eooked, seldom eaten raw. In bygone days, when the population of the 
island was many times larger than now, the groves of Musa Fehi were a most important 
resource in times of scarcity or when the cultivations of a tribe had been laid waste or 
pillaged by an enemy—a not unfrequent occurrence. 
= One of the most conspicuous features in the vegetation of the interior is the great 
abundance of Ferns. In most places they form the chief undergrowth; but on the 
summits of the mountains, and especially on the flat table-like top of Mount Tekou, they 
not only cover the ground with a dense tangled growth through which the explorer has 
to beat his way, but together with Mosses and Hepaticze clothe every rock and tree- 
trunk with a mantle of green, and hang from the branches in long wisps and festoons. 
Out of a total flora of 233 truly indigenous plants the Ferns and Lycopods number no less 
than 72, not far from one-third of the entire flora, an exceeding large proportion. 
Tree-ferns, however, are remarkably rare; three species occur on the island, but one of 
them is apparently confined to a single locality, and the other two have a very restricted 
distribution and nowhere form a prominent part of the vegetation. I Pu unable to 
offer any satisfaetory explanation of this peculiarity. From the humid nature of the 
elimate, the number of sheltered ravines, and the general facies of the vegetation it 
would have been natural to surmise that tree-ferns would be abundant. 
It is remarkable that the botany of Rarotonga has not been previously investigated, 
seeing that it is now 80 years since the discovery of the island, and that for the greater 
portion of that time Europeans have been living upon it. It cannot be said ibas it is 
difficult of access, when it is considered that for twenty years there has been regular 
steam communication with Auckland and Tahiti. So faras I can ascertain, the only 
scrap of information respecting the flora which has been published is a list of Se? 
oe ee by ihe Rev: W. Wyatt Gill, given by Mr. W. B. Hemsley in the Botany 
of the ‘Challenger’ Expedition (vol. i. 3, p. 116). The list appended to this paper is 
Loin the first attempt to draw up a systematic catalogue of the flora. It has been 
Sue al a pt ae a Ween: herbaria and scientific libraries, 
commission ; but I trust that these will not 
. be so numerous as to deprive it of value. It was my first intention to confine the list to 
S indigenous species, relegating the naturalized plants to a supplementary catalogue ; 
— — P: 
ccu 
