238 Dr. J. D. Hooker on the Vegetation 



closely related to one another. Associated with these are trees of Phytolacca, 

 Leguminosw, Psidium, Psychotria, Chiococca and Clerodendron, all tropical in 

 appearance, accompanied by others no less characteristic either of a warm 

 and equable temperature, humid atmosphere or wooded region ; such are the 

 genera Passiflora, Viscum, Ipomcea, Epidendrum and Peperomia, with the great 

 majority of the Ferns, and all the Jungermannice and Musci that have been 

 collected on the group. 



The naturalists who have explored this archipelago are very few in num- 

 ber, and as all have added more or less to a knowledge of its botany, I shall 

 mention their names in the order of the date of their respective visits. Mr. 

 Hugh Cuming in 1 829 paid a very short visit to the islands. The late David 

 Douglas and Dr. Scouler touched at James's Island on their way to the 

 Columbia River. Mr. Macrae landed on three of the islets when employed 

 in collecting by the Horticultural Society, and formed a rather considerable 

 herbarium. In 1835, Mr. Darwin spent some weeks in the archipelago, 

 visited four islets, and formed the excellent collection of upwards of 200 

 species which forms the groundwork of this essay. Admiral Du Petit Thouars 

 collected a few plants in one island only, for specimens of which I am in- 

 debted to the kindness of M. Decaisne of Paris, and very recently one of the 

 Galapagos group was the last place explored by the lamented Mr. Edmonstone 

 in the winter of 1845. His herbarium is second to that of Mr. Darwin in 

 numbers, and contains several plants which are not in any of the others. The 

 total number of species brought together from these various sources amounts 

 to 265, of which 225 are flowering plants, and 28 Ferns. The other orders 

 of Cryptogamia have not been attended to by any collector : of these there are 

 2 Musci, 6 Hepaticce, 3 Lichens and a Fungus. All the above, except per- 

 haps 17, natives of Charles, the only inhabited island, are truly indigenous to 

 the group: but that this is only an approximation to the real number of 

 species inhabiting the archipelago is probable from the circumstance of only 

 40 of these having been collected by more than one of the six collectors whose 

 herbaria I have examined. 



Under any circumstances it appears that the Flora of the Galapagos is 

 an exceedingly poor one when compared with that of other tropical islands 

 of their own or even less extent. Thus the Cape Verds, scarcely so well 



