464 SCIENCE PROGRESS. 



presented to Kew. In a letter to the Director (46) he 

 states that the only trees now in Aldabra are casuarinas 

 and mangroves ; the latter some of the largest he had ever 

 seen, beinQf sometimes as much as eighteen inches in 

 diameter, and fifty to sixty feet high. This is indeed an 

 unusual size for Rhizophora mucronata, the only kind of 

 mangrove in the collection of dried plants. " Formerly," 

 he continues, " porcher \Thespesia populnea\ and rosewood 

 \Cordia subcordata ?~\ grew to considerable size, as shown 

 by decaying stumps ; now, only small ones exist. On 

 the other hand, herbaceous plants are exceedingly scarce. 

 Almost the entire vegetation consists of shrubs of from 

 three to seven feet high. But the soil is thin, and 

 the drought and heat often excessive." He adds that the 

 most conspicuous plant was a kind of Aloe ? This proves 

 to be Lomatophyllum borbonicum, a liliaceous plant, very 

 similar to an aloe, but differing technically in having a 

 fleshy fruit. It was previously only known to inhabit 

 Mauritius and Bourbon. 



The collection referred to above has been worked out 

 at Kew. It contains several interesting plants besides the 

 one just mentioned, and a full list has appeared (47) with 

 descriptions of the novelties ; the latter more numerous 

 than would have been expected from so small an island 

 with so slight an elevation. It is necessary, however, to 

 repeat the caution that further exploration of the nearest 

 small islands, to say nothing of Madagascar, may lead to 

 the discovery of some or all of them beyond Aldabra 

 Island. Mr. J. G. Baker describes as new : Grewia alda- 

 brensis (Tiliacese), Pavetta trichantha and Tricalysia 

 cuneifolia (Rubiacese), My r sine crypt ophlebia (Myrsineae), 

 Solanum aldabrense (Solanacese), Hypoestes aldabrensis 

 (Acanthaceae), Clerodendron minutiflorum (Verbenaceae), 

 Euphorbia Abbot tit (Euphorbiaceae) and Ficus aldabrensis 

 (Moracese). Among other plants specially interesting on 

 account of their distribution are : Ochna ciliata (Mada- 

 gascar), Desmanthus Commersonianus (Madagascar), Plum- 

 bago aphylla (Madagascar and Europa Island), Astephanus 

 arenarins (Madagascar) and FictLs nautarum (Mauritius 



