114 JOURNAL OF THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM [vol. i 



hundreds of large wriggling snakes. The trunk is deeply furrowed and bil- 

 lowy in outline and is clothed with firm, nearly smooth, gray bark. It is a 

 singular tree, striking in aj)pearance, and the contrast between young leaves 

 covered with a soft rufous pubescence and the shining green of mature 

 leaves Is most marked. This tree is also considered to grow^ In Formosa, 

 but the trees pointed out to me as such appeared to be different. The 

 other Sapotaceous tree if, indeed, it really belongs to his family, may also 

 be a species of Sidcroxylon, but I saw only one tree without flowers and fruit. 

 It was small — 6 meters tall and 0.3 m. in girth — and was said to bear 

 yellow, flattened, round, edible fruits. It grows on the upper-middle slopes 



of Chibusa-yama, Ilaha-jima. 



The Symplocos and Taralstonla are both small trees, the first I found 

 on Muk5-jima only, but the Paralstonia is everywhere plentiful and is the 

 ** Yellow-wood" of the Islanders; It is a tree sometimes 10 meters tall by 

 one meter in girth of trunk. 



CONCLUSION 



The Bonin Islands are too small and too windswept to ever become 

 important in tropical agriculture. Sugar-cane grows well and the high 

 price of sugar during the last few years has caused its extensive planting 

 on the Bonins as elsewhere. When sugar falls in price it Is doubtful if its 

 cultivation at a profit can be maintained In such small, out-of-the-way 

 places with the consequent high transport rates. The turtles are now scarce 

 and the waters have been very closely fished. With a decline in its sugar 

 industry following that of its marine products the future of these islands is 

 not particularly bright and in all probability many of the Japanese will 

 leave them. With these thoughts in mind it seems worth while to note 

 down the fe\v trees which have been introduced to the Islands and the 

 favorite garden plants of the early settlers, since as they escape in a century's 

 time future visitors may think them indigenous. The Bonin Islanders do 

 not appear to have introduced many plants economic or otherwise. The 

 Papaya {Carica Papaya L.) is common and yields excellent fruit; the 

 Banana, formerly a most important crop, has been attacked by disease and 

 has virtually disappeared from the Islands. The Lemon grows and fruits 

 w^ell and in one garden growls a very large tree of a kind of '* Grape fruit." 

 The present owners know nothing of Its history but most probably it came 

 from the island of Guam. The Passion fruit {Passiflora edulis Sims), a 

 Guava {Psidiiim Cattleyanum Sab.) have also been introduced and so too has 

 Ficus retusa var. nitida INlIq., the common Banyan Fig of Luikiu and For- 

 mosa. For ornament in the gardens I noted Russelia juncea Zucc, Poin- 

 settia {Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd.), Oleander {Xerium odorum Soland.) 

 Pomegranate {Punica Granatum L.), two Hibiscus (//. rosa- sinensis L. and 

 //. schizopetalus Hook.) and C.uphea eviinens Planch. & LIndh As hedge 

 plants Lagerstroemia snhcostata Koehne, and a Jasmine (J. undidatum var. 

 elegans Ilemsl.) are common and the latter has escaped. The Japanese 

 have introduced a number of plants and in Omura, Chlchi-jima, there Is 



