NO. 2 GENTRY : LAND PLANTS 47 



TABLE 2 



Table 2. Plant collectors and collections on Cedros and San Benito Islands. 

 Estimated numbers are followed by a question mark. 



The San Benito Islands consist of three small islands, East, 

 Middle and West, lying about 24 kilometers from the north end of Cedros 

 Island. Although they rest upon the continental shelf, they are separated 

 from Cedros Island by a channel 180 to 190 fathoms deep. This is more 

 than enough to prevent junction during low eustatic sea levels of the 

 Glacial Periods. Whether they were ever land-bridged to Cedros or the 

 peninsula is not presently known. The highest elevation of 200 meters 

 (661 feet) is attained on West Island, the largest of the three. Fraser 

 ( 1943 :65) speaks of them as "all rocky and barren," but Greene (1889 : 

 261), the first chronicler of the islands, described them in glowing terms. 

 ''Lieutenant Pond judges the San Benito Islands to be of much older 

 formation than the large island of Cedros near by. The surface is not 

 sharply rocky ; the slopes are not abrupt ; there is good depth of soil almost 

 everywhere, and vegetation is abundant, the whole group presenting, on 

 near approach, a picture of freshness and verdure at the showery season 

 of the year, the months from December to February, during which 

 several visits were made (by Pond). At this time sweet flowing water 

 was found in most of the canyons and ravines ; a condition not likely to 

 obtain during the dry summer season." Such opposing impressions in 

 addition to the personal factor of prejudice appear to be conditioned by 

 the lack or presence of seasonal rains. 



