1919] WILSON, THE BOXIN ISLANDS 113 



fined to the forest shade. ThePutranjiva is the "White Iron-wood" of the 

 Bonin Islanders and it is in request for general building purposes. It is 

 a common tree from 15 to 20 meters tall and from 1.5 to 2.5 meters in 

 girth of trunk and has gray bark. It was a surprise to me to find the Pride 

 of India {Mclia Azcdarach L.) luxuriating in the depth of the forest on 

 Mulberry Mt. and elsewhere. Until then I knew It only as a tree delighting 

 in open country or the margins of woods, but since I have seen it in the 

 rich forests of northeastern Formosa. On the Bonins it is a common tree 

 and on the mountain mentioned grow specimens 25 meters tall and 6 meters 

 in girth of trunk. The v/ood is of excellent quality, beautifully figured and 

 was known to the Bonin Islanders as *' Cedar," and by them employed to 

 make the floors of their houses. In its wide distribution this tree has been 

 helped by its seed, which can be carried in the crops of migratory birds 

 and by ocean currents. Also man's fondness for this tree has caused it 

 to be carried to so many distant lands that it is not easy to say just when 

 and where it is indigenous. The Sapindus is another wide-spread tree in the 

 Orient, but on the Bonins I saw none of any size though small trees were 

 plentiful in the forests on Haha-jima. 



The Elaeocarpus is endemic (though the Japanese E. ellipticus Mak. has 

 been confused with it) and very abundant, growing from 10 to 20 meters 

 tall and from 0.5 to 2.5 meters in girth of trunk. The wood was used by 

 the Bonin Islanders for roofing purposes and the tree known as "Shaddock." 

 The Schima is also peculiar to the Bonins and formerly large trees were 

 abundant, but clearings made for a foolish and foredoomed-to-failure experi- 

 ment to grow Rubber (Ficus elastica Roxb.) resulted in the destruction of 

 many handsome trees. This Schima grows from 20 to 25 meters tall with a 

 trunk from 3 to 4 meters in girth and a round-topped crown of massive 

 branches often 15 to 20 meters through. It goes by the name of "Rose- 

 wood" and the timber Is considered valuable by the Japanese. 



The Eugenia oxygona Koidz. is the "Red Iron- wood" of the Islanders 

 and is a slender tree from 4 to 6 meters tall with brownish scaly bark and is 

 everywhere common. The Fatsia is a small tree common among the under- 

 growth of the forest and like its Japanese relative has handsome foliage. 



The two Myrsinaceous trees, Ardisia and Rapanea, form the principal 

 arborescent undergrowth in the forests and are also common in thickets. 

 They are slender trees, seldom more than 8 meters tall; the wood of the 

 Rapanea is reddish and that of the Ardisia white. The latter was known as 

 "White Oak" to the early settlers and by them used in house-building. It 

 is possible that the Bonin Ardisia, which has dark reddish fruit, should be 

 regarded as a variety of the wide-spread type. 



The Sideroxylon or *' Black Iron-wood" of the Islanders is one of the 

 commonest plants on the Bonins but large trees are now rare. On the 

 windswept hilltops it forms scrub from a foot to a yard high, in less ex- 

 posed places it is a small to a moderate-sized tree, and on Sekimonzan in a 

 bit of sheltered virgin forest are trees 30 meters tall and 5 meters in girth 

 of trunk with wide-spreading buttressed roots sprawling on the ground like 



