326 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



there are three palmettos, called the "silver" and " thatch-top palms," 

 and "hog-cabbage" ; "sea-grape" {Coccoloba uvifera) ; the "seven- 

 year apple " ( Genipa clusiifoUa) ; Malvavisciis arhoreus, a handsome 

 shrub, with red flowers, resembling a small hollyhock ; mangrove {Rhi- 

 zophora mangle) ; wild sapodilla {Sapota achras) ; and many others 

 equally characteristic. Land-snails are very common on some of the 

 islands, and the omnipresent lizards [Annolis) were the only reptiles 

 which we met with. 



The Genipa or seven-year apple is very abundant along the shores 

 of the islands just above high-tide mark. It sends up from the ground 

 slender brittle stems a few feet high, bearing ci'eamy-white flowers and 

 a hard, yellowish-green fruit, which is inedible. The leaves are dark 

 green and highly polished. 



The wild sapodilla is equally common, and attains the height of a 

 small tree. The axillary flower-clusters appear a little in advance of 

 the leaves, which in June add a touch of the brightest spring green 

 to every thicket. The fruit, which is not edible, is covered with a 

 rusty-brown skin, and is usually tenninated by the long persistent 

 style. The cultivated sapodilla forms a good-sized tree, and appears 

 to grow spontaneously wherever it has been introduced. It differs 

 from the former chiefly in point of size and in the superiority of its 

 fruit. Possibly the wild form is the parent stock from which the 

 other, with its sweet, pulpy fruit, has been derived ; but I have been 

 unable to gather any facts relating to this point. A milky juice flows 

 freely from the wounded bark of the sapodilla-trees, forming a viscid 

 gum, which the negroes use as bird-lime. It is also noteworthy that 

 the Isonandra giitta, a Malayan tree, from the juice of which the 

 gutta-percha of commerce is obtained, is also a member of the JSapo- 

 tacecB or Sapodilla family. 



These islands have been largely colonized from the South, princi- 

 pally perhaps from Cuba ; and the Gulf Stream and other agents, which 

 have brought the plant-germs thither, have carried them also to the 

 keys and coast of Florida, where they may have first become estab- 

 lished. The seed-eating birds, finches and starlings, which are com- 

 mon on Abaco and many of the small islands, serve also as important 

 distributors of grains and seeds of other plants. The great number 

 of shrubs bearing edible berries may be partially accounted for in this 

 way. The annual hurricanes, on the other hand, are certainly power- 

 ful agencies in scattering seeds over wide areas. Knowing the fre- 

 quency of their occurrence and their long duration, we can see how 

 by this means alone an island would soon acquire a rich and varied 

 flora. 



as they were makinpj their di'ifnd in the water. Thus it seems that these animals have to 

 contend with enemies which are even more formidaljlc than man, and it not surprising 

 that this vaUiable and once staple product of these islands is fast becoming a luxury. 



