324 



ISLAND LIFE 



thousand feet elevation ; while Viola, Drosera, Acsena, 

 Lobelia, Edwardsia, Dodon^a, Lycopodium, and many 

 Compositse, range above six thousand feet. Vacciniuni 

 and Silene are very interesting, as they are almost peculiar 

 to the North Temperate zone ; while many plants allied 

 to Antarctic sj)ecies are found in the bogs of the high 

 plateaux. 



The proportionate abundance of the different families 

 in this interesting flora is as follows : — 



1. Compositse 70 species. 



2. Lobeliaceae 58 ,, 



3. Graminaceae 57 ., 



4. Rubiaceaj 49 



5. Cyperaceoe 47 



6. Labiatffi 39 



7. Rutacece 80 



8. Gesneriacese 24 



9. Caryophyllacese 23 



10. Leguminosse 21 ., 



11. Piperacece 



20 



1 2. Urticacete 15 species. 



13. Malvaceae 14 ., 



14. Convolviilacese 14 ,, 



15. Araliaceee 12 ,, 



16. Solanacete 12 ,, 



17 Euphorbiaceas 12 ., 



18. Pittosj)oraceae 10 ., 



19. Amarantacece 9 ., 



20. Violacese 8 , , 



21. Goodeniaceae 8 ,. 



Nine other orders, Geraniacea?, Rhamnacese, Rosacese, 

 Myrtaceae, Primulacese, Loganiaceae, Liliaceae, Thymelacege, 

 and Cucurbitacese, have six or seven species each ; and 

 among the more important orders which have less than 

 five species ea^ch are Ranunculace^e, Cruciferae, Vaccinace^, 

 Apocynacege, Boraginacese, Scrophulariacea?, Polygonaceae, 

 Orchidacese, and Juncacese. The most remarkable feature 

 here is the great abundance of Lobeliaceae, a character of 

 the flora which is probably unique ; while the sui^eriority 

 of Labiata3 to Leguminosae and the scarcity of Rosacea^ 

 and Orchidacese are also very unusual. Composites, as in 

 most temperate floras, stand at the head of the list, and it 

 will be interesting to note the affinities which they indi- 

 cate. Omitting eleven species Avhich are cosmopolitan, 

 and have no doubt entered with civilised man, there re- 

 main nineteen genera and seventy species of Compositse 

 in the islands. Sixty-one of the species are peculiar, as 

 are eight of the genera ; while the genus Lipocha?ta with 

 eleven species is only known elsewhere in the Galapagos, 

 where a single species occurs. We may therefore consider 

 that nine out of the nineteen aenera of Hawaiian Com- 



