A. E. VerrtlP—The Bermuda Islands. 



5 73 



( Opuntia), which still grows abundantly on the barren cliffs by the 

 sea. Its berries were eaten, "both raw and cooked, by the early set- 

 tlers. There are no fruits mentioned, except the berries of the 

 palmetto, cedar, and wild mulberry, although a few shrubs, with 

 more or less edible berries, still exist that were probably native.* 

 But the settlers may not have known that they were edible or they 

 ma}" have been so scarce that they were of no importance to them. 



Figure 84. — Bermuda Maiden-hair Fern (Adiantum bellum). 



The list of existing flowering plants an<l ferns, believed by 

 the writer to have been native of the islands before their settle- 

 ment, includes about 156 species; of which -22 species are ferns. Of 

 the whole number, about 120 species are also native of the West 

 Indies. 



a. — Endemic Plants. 



Five flowering plants and three ferns are generally believed to be 

 endemic, since they have not yet been found elsewhere, but some of 

 these may eventually be found in the West Indies, when those islands 

 shall have been fully explored botanically. Yet it is possible that 

 some of them, which, may have originated in the West Indies, have 



* The Sea-side Grape (Coccoloba uvifera) and the Myginda rhaeoma bear 

 berries that are said to be edible, but perhaps not very palatable. These are 

 supposed to be indigenous, though neither is mentioned by early writers. 



