KEPOKT ON THE BOTANY OF THE ATLANTIC ISLANDS. 13 



thirty-seven indigenous plants appear to be common, or even abundant, and in little 

 present danger of being overrun and extirpated by the introduced element : — 



Cahile cequalis, Sida carpinifolia, Dodoncea viscosa, Rhus toxicodendron, Canavalia 

 obtusifoha, Leuccena glauca, Rhizophora mangle, Conocarpus erectus, Opuntia, Sesuvium 

 portidacastrum,Rhachicallis rupestris, Chiococca racemosa ,Borrichia arborescens, Sccevola 

 lobelia, Tournefortia gnaphalodes, Ipomcea pes-caprce, Avicennia nitida, Salicornia 

 ambigua, Euphorbia bvxifolia, Croton maritimus, Myrica cerifera, Juniperus bermudiana, 

 Sisyrinchium bermndiana, Sabal blackburniana, Typha angustifolia, Cladium mariscus, 

 Cenchrus tribidoides, Spartina juncea, Stenotaphrum americanum, Sporobolus indicus, 

 Sporobolus virginicus, Chloris petrcea, Adiantum bellum, Pteris aquilina, Pteris hetero- 

 phylla, Acrostichum aureum and Osmunda regalis. 



Of the foregoing plants, those characteristic of the different parts of the coast are : — 



Cakile, Dodonwa, Canavalia, Rhizophora, Conocarpus, Sesuvium, Rhachicallis, Chio- 

 cocca, Borrichia, Sccevola, Tournefortia, Ipomaa, Avicennia, Salicornia, Euphorbia, 

 Croton, and several of the grasses, of which Cenchrus tribidoides is the commonest, acting 

 as the principal sand-binding plant on the dimes. 



Among the commoner plants of the marshes or bays are Rhus, Myrica, Sisyrinchium, 

 Cladium, Pteris aquilina, Acrostichum aureum, and Osmunda regalis. 



Introduced Plants Prominent in the Present Vegetation of the Islands. 



In the first rank of this category comes Lantana camara and Lantana invohicrata, the 

 sage bushes of the islanders. Nearly the whole country where uncultivated is covered 

 with a dense growth of these shrubs, which were originally introduced about a century ago 

 to supply firewood. Such vigour and power of spreading do these shrubs possess, that 

 they threaten the extinction of many of the rare indigenous plants. Mr Oswald A. Eeade, 

 writing of the vegetation of an undisturbed part of Boaz Island in a recent communica- 

 tion, states that the sage bush and oleander had penetrated there, and were likely soon to 

 overpower the native shrubs in the struggle for existence. The oleander (South-Sea rose of 

 the islander) indeed is a hardly less formidable enemy to the native vegetation than the 

 sage bushes. It grows with extraordinary rapidity in the moister parts of the islands 

 bordering the marshes, &c, but it is also capable of spreading in dry places, where, how- 

 ever, it forms a dwarf much-branched bush. 



Of the less destructive, though hardly less common, introduced plants, are Argemone mexi- 

 cana, Portulaca oleracea, Oxalis cornicidata, Bryophyllum calycinum, Fceniculum imlgare, 

 Ageratum conyzoides, Cichorium intybus, Anagallis arvensis, Asclepias curassavica, 

 Verbascum thap>sus, Lippia nodijlora, Stachytarpheta jamaicensis, Salvia coccinea, 

 Plantago major, Plantago lanceolata, and Euphorbia spp. 



