OCEANIC DISPEESAL OF PLANTS. 279 



seems to dispute with the waves the possession of the soil. Such trees as Bruguiera, 

 RMzophora, JEgiceras, Laguncularia, Sonneratia, B< t rringtonia and Calophyllim actually 

 advance into the sea in all directions. " Not only are their roots, and often portions of 

 their trunks, immersed in the water, but their branching crowns incline in the same 

 direction, and are bathed by the waves of the high tides. This phenomenon is specially 

 observable in the case of Calophyllum inophyllv/m and Barringtonia speciosa, which even 

 in such situations attain astonishing dimensions ; and these trees were so crowded in some 

 localities that landing was difficult." " Under these circumstances," he continues, " it is 

 not surprising that the numerous currents which plough the Molucca Sea are charged with 

 an immeasurable quantity of vegetable matter. Intermixed with seaweeds in these 

 currents are leaves, flowers, and fruits, and even whole trees. Among flowers remarkable 

 for their colour, for their number, or for their size, we distinguished those of several 

 arboreous Apocynaceae belonging to the genera Plumeria and TaberncBmontana ; those of 

 Musa, Mucuna, Eryihrina, and Portlandia, and especially those of Agati grandiflora 

 and Spatkadea longiflora." Prominent among the fruits, he mentions the cocoa-nut, 

 areca-nut, and those of various other palms ; Barringtonia speciosa, Eugenia malaccensis, 

 Xylocarpus granatum; the open follicles of two or three species of Sterculia; pods of 

 Galedupa [Pongamia], Dolichos, Abrus, Omphalobium, Agati, and Adenanthera, invari- 

 ably containing their seeds ; the drupaceous, fleshy, or woody fruits of Cycas, Terminalia, 

 Heritiera, Calophyllum, and three or four species of Myristica ; the long capsules of some 

 Bignouiaceae ; the tunicated fruit of Hernandia sonora, and, finally, the fleshy fruit of 

 TaberncBmontana aurantiaca, which exactly resembles an orange in shape and colour. 



Alphonse De Candolle, 1 who contends that oceanic currents have played a compara- 

 tively unimportant part in the diffusion of plants generally, nevertheless regards the sea 

 as the conveying agent of many littoral plants from one country to another. 



LIST OF PLANTS EEGAKDED BY A. DE CANDOLLE AS HAVING PROBABLY OR 

 POSSIBLY BEEN DIFFUSED BY OCEANIC CURRENTS. 



Origin probably American. 

 Naturalised in Africa only. 



Alternanthera achyrantha, R. Br. 



Drepanocarpus lutiatus, Mey. 

 Ecastaphyllum brownei, Pers. 

 Mucuna wens, DC. 

 Ohrysobalanus icaco, Linn. 

 Telanthera maritima, Moq. 



Iresine vermieularis, Moq. 

 Iresine aggregata, Moq. 

 Remirea maritima, Aubl. 



Naturalised in Asia only. 

 Tephrosia piscatoria, Pers. 



1 Geographie Botanique Raisonn^e, ii. p. 792-796. 



