FLORA OF THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS. 



243 



Families containing Vascular Plants peculiar to the Islands. 



Abingdon Island. 



Abingdon is, with the exception of the rather remote islets of Wenman 

 and Culpepper, the most northern of the archipelago. It is about 14 km. 

 long, and attains a height of 600 m. It was visited by Dr. Baur for a 

 few hours, September 8th, 1891, and by Messrs. Suodgrass and Heller in 

 June, 1899. Fifty flowering plants and ferns are known to occur on 

 the island, and of these four are peculiar to it, namely : EupJwrbia 

 viminea, var. abingdonensis, Borreria ovalis, forma ahingdonensis^ Justicia 

 galapagana (with close Mexican congener), and Scalesia Hopkinsii. The 

 peculiar element is thus 8 per cent of the flora. Peperomia galioides of 

 Mexico and tropical South America occurs upon Abingdon, but upon no 

 other of the Galapagos Islands. The remaining plants are common to 

 other islands of the group, and represent in all 22 families, of which 

 the Filices, Gramineae, Rubiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Compositae have 

 the greatest number of species. Although Abingdon lies, as we have 

 seen, to the northward of the main archipelago and on the side toward 

 "Wenman and Culpepper, it has, so far as we yet know, only one plant 

 in common with the former and none with the latter. A little over half 



