The Plant World 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL OF POPULAR BOTANY 



Official Organ of 

 The Wild Flower Preservation Society 



OF America 



VoL VII JANUARY, 1904 No. i 



Extracts from the Note-Book of a Nat- 

 uralist on the Island of Guam.— XIV. * 



By William E. Safford. 



The Ilig River broadens at its mouth into a small bay, the waters of 

 which are brackish. On its southern margin there is a growth of Nipa 

 frHtica7is, a stemless palm allied to the ivory-nut palm (Phytelephas), 

 with great heads of drupes near the water's edge, recalling those of the 

 screw-pines. Though introduced from the Philippines, it has established 

 itself near the mouths of nearly all the streams of this island, and as in 

 the typical ' ' Nipa Formations ' ' has associated itself with Chry sodium 

 aiireuvt, the widely-spread marsh-fern, and other plants which love brackish 

 water. A little farther up the streams, where the water is fresh, beds 

 of reeds occur iPhragmites phragmites) , and on the banks are trees of 

 Hibiscus tiliaceiis and betel palms {,Areca catechu^. 



Our way now lay directly south across an eminence called Matento, 

 covered with "jack-in-the-box" {Hernandia peltata) and other trees, 

 then along a fine strip of sandy beach between the escarpment of a plateau 

 (the Sabana de Lagiiifia) and the sea. Carpets of purple-flowered morn- 

 ing-glories {Ipo?7ioea pes-caprae) covered the coral sand near the water's 

 edge and there were many trees of iron -wood iCasiiarina equisetifolia) 

 so close to the sea that their roots had been bared by the waves. These 

 trees seem well able to re sist the strong winds which prevail on this 



* Continued from the December issue. Begun in September, 1902. 



