288 PROCEEDINGS: BOSTON SOCIETY NATURAL HISTORY. 



Other groups characteristic of tropical regions and to be found on 

 Margarita are the Melastomaceae, Aroideae, Piperaceae, Lorantha- 

 ceae, and such members of the FiHces as Trichomanes, Hymeno- 

 phyllum, and Cyathea. 



Thus it may readily be seen that the variety of plants is rather 

 great. One finds all conditions from that in which the halogens and 

 other xerophytes of the seashore and plains are found to that of the 

 mesophytes in the moist mountain regions, and not alone terrestial 

 plants but also many epiphytes and a few phanerogamic parasites. 



Flora of the Island of Coche. 

 Description of the Vegetative Conditions. 



The island of Coche is a typical desert island and, so far as re- 

 ported, had never been visited by a botanist. The conditions exist- 

 ing on such an island were of great interest to me, and the fact that two 

 new species of plants were found together with the fact that few 

 descriptions of such an island are on record, makes it seem desirable 

 to describe the flora of Coche and the vegetative conditions in such 

 detail as may be possible. 



It was through the kindness of friends at Porlamar, Margarita, 

 that I was enabled with a companion, Dr. A. F. Blakeslee, to visit 

 Coche. The party, in charge of Sr. Antonio and Sr. Guilarte, left 

 Porlamar at noon, Aug. 4, 1903, in a sloop, and reached San Pedro 

 on the western end of Coche shortly after nightfall. Although the 

 sign over one doorway proclaimed "Restaurant" within, yet the 

 proprietor refused to furnish either food or shelter. Fortunately, 

 our companions had friends there so that rooms in different houses 

 were assigned where hammocks, which had been brought along, could 

 be slung. The meals were picked up as well as could be done at the 

 stores. Drinking water cost two and one-half cents a liter. It was 

 found that this water was brought over from Porlamar and from the 

 mainland. Water was to be had from pits on the shore but it was un- 

 desirable for drinking purposes. 



On the morning of the 5th of August Dr. Blakeslee and I traversed 

 the low shore of this end from the south point to the north. The beach 

 stretches for a kilometer and a half to the northwest into a narrow spit 

 of land. On this extent of lowland is a salt lake, where great piles of 

 salt are gathered for shipment. Beyond the lake itself for another 



