622 A. E. Verrill—The Bermuda Islands. 



morasses. The seeds will germinate while floating at the surface of 

 the sea-water, with other debris, and sending long roots down to the 

 bottom they soon anchor themselves, even when the water is two or 

 three feet deep. It extends through the West Indies, and to Brazil ; 

 also to West Africa and the Pacific Islands. 



Black Mangrove ; Olive Mangrove ; Black Jack. (Avicenna nitida 

 Jacq.) 



Plate LXXIV. Figure 1. 



This is a very common, thickly branched, evergreen tree of the 

 Verbena family, with dark green, thick, entire, glossy leaves. Flowers 

 small, white, in clusters. Fruit leathery ; one-seeded. 



In size and general appearance it resembles the true mangrove, 

 and grows associated with it, in the borders of salt swamps and 

 ponds and on marshy shores, often standing in the edge of the salt 

 water ; sometimes it grows in comparatively dry surface soil, but 

 close to the shore. It usually sends up from its roots a multitude of 

 slender, leafless, upright shoots, when it grows in the water. These 

 serve to entangle mud, dead leaves, seaweeds, etc , to enrich the soil. 

 It has no descending serial roots, like those of the true Mangrove. 

 The wood is very dark, hence the common names. It is found from 

 Florida to Mexico and Brazil, and throughout the W. Indies ; also 

 on the coast of West Africa. 



2*7. — Introduction of Useful Plants and Injurious Weeds. 



It has been shown in a former chapter (p. 572) that the native 

 flora contained scarcely any plants that could furnish human food, 

 except the palmetto, which yielded the nutritious cabbage-like tops 

 and edible berries ; the cedar, whose berries were astringent, but 

 were eaten in times of scarcity ; the prickly- pears, whose fruit is 

 nutritious, but not very palatable ; the wild mulberry ; and a few 

 other small berries. But there were no edible roots, nor cereals. 



Therefore it was necessary to at once introduce and cultivate 

 edible plants, in order to avoid the risk of famine, for the early com- 

 munication with England and Virginia was slow and precarious. 



a. — Introductions of Useful Plants from England, 1610-1625, by 



Seeds and Cuttings. 



There is no evidence that any of the seeds that were planted by 

 Sir George Somers in 1009 (see p. 543) came to anything. But the 

 three pioneer men left on the islands from 1610 to 1012 had success- 



