574 A. K Verrill—The Bermuda Islands. 



been exterminated there, by human agency, before disappearing in 

 Bermuda. 



Aside from the Palmetto, the most interesting of these endemic 

 species are the Blue-eyed grass and the Maiden-hair Fern, both of 

 which are very common and widely diffused. 



The Blue-eyed Grass* or " Lily " (fig. 33) grows in a variety of 

 situations, both in good soil and on barren rocky and sandy hills, and 

 even on the small barren islands. Its bright blue flowers, which are 

 produced in abundance in spring, are often at least one-half an inch 

 in diameter, being much larger and brighter blue than those of our 

 New England species. The flower stems are often 8 to 10 inches 

 high, but shorter in dry soil. 



The Maiden-hair Fern (fig. 34) grows in abundance in the cracks 

 and crevices of cliffs, especially in those of the stone cuttings along 

 the roadsides, forming tufts of very elegant and graceful foliage. 



The endemic species, according to Hemsley (Voy. Chalk, Botany, 

 i, p. 12) are as follows : — 



Flowering plants : — Ferns : — 



Erigeron Darrellianus Hemsl. | Adiantum helium Moore. Maid- 



Slatice Lefroyi Hemsl. Sea Lav- en-hair Fern. Fig. 34. 



ender. Asplenium Laffanianum Baker. 



Sisyrinchium Bermudianum L. JVephrodium Bermudianum B. 

 Blue-eyed Grass. Fig. 33. 



Sabal Blackburn in mi (41. Ber- 

 muda Palmetto. Figs. 4, 32. 



Carex Bermudiana Hemsl. 



b. — Localized Plants. 



Among the 150 species of land plants now considered nativef, about 

 50 species are very restricted in their distribution, having been found 



* An ancient law, passed in 1669, required the destruction of two bad weeds, 

 the " Wire-weed " and " Lily." It is thought that this Blue-eyed Grass was the 

 plant meant by "Lily," because there is no other native plant or weed that 

 resembles a lily. If so it would prove that it was more abundant at that time 

 than now, which is not unlikely. 



f Hemsley reckoned 152 species as native (including eight species added in the 

 Addenda). Lefroy considered a considerable number of additional species as 

 native, some of which were more probably introduced. The additional species, 

 introduced by man and considered as fully naturalized, are about 190, though 

 many more are partially naturalized. So that the total number of flowering 

 plants and ferns is about 350, exclusive of exotic cultivated plants, not natural- 

 ized. To these may be added about 8 mosses ; 6 Hepaticas ; 32 lichens ; 32 

 Fungi. The alga? include about 140 species. 



