1898] Small— Vegetation in the Bermudas. 157. 



scarcely a house without its Banana plantation beside it. The 

 Cassava {JatropJia Manihoi), from which is prepared tapioca, is 

 cultivated to a limited extent. It is a smooth shrubby plant 

 three or four feet high, producing tubers or roots not unlike those 

 of the dahlia, but much more massive and of a harder texture. 

 Amongst the colored population a Christmas dinner is not com- 

 plete without a Cassava pie, a poor substitute however for the 

 plum pudding of the north. The third plant is the Arrowroot 

 {Mafanta arundinaced) growing three or four feet high, with 

 large spear-head-shaped leaves, and bearing root-like tubers 

 which mature in February. From these a starch is manufac- 

 tured which, after going through several processes, is known as 

 Bermuda Arrowroot and holds a high place in the market, but 

 its place has been lately taken by the article now produced 

 all through the West Indies, in Australia, and in the Fiji 

 Islands. 



There is a plant which I have been unable to place, neither 

 can I find any description corresponding with it in the few 

 botanical papers bearing on the flora of Bermuda. I am in- 

 clined to think it is a Sanseveria. Its leaves are from 18 to 24 

 inches long, and about three inches wide, smooth, leathery, of a 

 dark green mottled with purple spots, like some of the Orchis 

 tribe. The under side is purplish. When the leaves dry off 

 they turn a greenish brown with the spots still showing, and are 

 not unlike the back of a snake. It grows in shady places, about 

 rock cuttings or disused quarries, preferring shade to the open. 

 It was not in blossom during my stay. 



Owing to the extreme moisture in the air, vegetation is 

 always luxuriant, growth being sustained by the heavy dews 

 and the great evaporation at night. These conditions approach 

 the description of Eden, where " a mist went up from the garden 

 and watered the face of the earth." The coral rock too is favor- 

 able to growth, and vegetation of all kinds flourishes apparently 

 out of the face of the rock wherever fissures allow the roots to 

 penetrate. 



