FLORA OF ST. CROIX AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS. 7 



loha vviferaj Clirysobalanus Icaco, and Canella alba, besides the Cocos 

 mtcifera, which is planted and naturahzed, especially on the low sandy 

 seashore. Under these taller forms apj)ear many kinds of shrubs, such 

 as Ecastophyllum Broivnei, Tournefortia gnaphalodes, Borrichia arbores- 

 cens, Ernodea litoralis, Suriana maritima, EritJialis fruticosa, Coluhrina 

 ferruginosa, Guilandina Bonduc and Bondiicella, and several others. 

 Still lower shrubs and suflrutescent herbs are Scwvola Plumierij Tourne- 

 fortia gnaphalodes, Sesuvium portulacastrum, Heliotropium curassavicumj 

 Philoxerus vermiculatus, CaJcile a;qualis, as well as several grasses and 

 sedges, as Sporohulus litoralis, Stenotaplirum americanum, and Cyperus 

 hrimneus, as also some remarkable creepers or climbers, such as 

 Ipomwa pescaprcv and Lablah vulgaris. 



Most of these species disappear on the rocky cliffs, where they give 

 room for others, mostly shrubs of a low growth, and with thicker or 

 more coriaceous leaves, that are able to resist the force of the wind, 

 which often bends the whole plant into a dwarfish individual, the 

 branches of which are cut off at the top in a western direction. The 

 most common of these shi'ubs are Jacquinia armillaris, Elccodendron 

 xylocarpum, Plumieria alba, and Coccoloba punctata, as well as some 

 monocotyledonous plants, such as Pitcairnia angustifoUa, Agave ameri- 

 cana, and a few Cacti, principally the stout Melocactus communis. 



Still more different forms appear where the coast becomes swampy 

 from the ijresence of lagoons. Here predominates the Mangrove forma- 

 tion, comjiosed chiefly of Laguncularia racemosa, Cohocarpus erectus, Avi- 

 cennia nitida, and EMzopJiora Mangle, which all grow more or less in the 

 water itself. In less moist places we find some others, such as Bncida 

 Buceras, Anona palustris, Antlieryliiim Eohrri, and the curious Batis ma- 

 ritima, Avhich recalls to the mind the halophytes of the stepijes. 



However different these various forms of littoral plants may apx)ear, 

 compared to each other, yet they all have in common the predilection 

 for the sea, the saline exhalation of which seems indispensable to their 

 growth. Some have even, like Aviccnnia, their leaves always covered 

 with small salt crystals ; others, like Batis maritima, are true halophytes, 

 and only very few of the plants of the coast in generality are found in the 

 interior even of these small islands. An exception is made by the cocoa- 

 nut palm, which is found growing all about on the islands, even on the 

 top of the highest hills, as also by Coccoloba uvifera, found in similar 

 localities. 



In passing from the coast into the interior we find on the eastern, and 



