A PRELIMINARY LIST OF MALDIVE PLANTS. 



Plumeria actitifolia Poir. 



*Vinca rosea L. 



Calotropis gigantea Br. 



Tournefortia argentea L. f. 



Solanum Mdongena L. (" Brin- 

 jail." Bell.) 



'^^Physalis sp. 



Capsicicm sp. 



Justicia procumbens L. 



Lippia noditiora Rich. 



Vitex Negundo L. Perhaps in- 

 troduced. 



Clerodendrum iuerme Br. 



'^'Mirabilis Jalapa L. (" Asaru- 

 mu," Maid.) 



Pisonia morindivfolia Br. (P. alba 

 Span.). I take the " Los," 

 Maid., to be this, but have seen 

 no specimen.! It is not im- 

 probably a native, introduced 

 by the sea as other littoral 

 species. 



Amarantus gamjeticus L. 



Nothosffirva brachiata Wight. 



iErua lanata Juss. 



Piper Betle L. 



P. nigrum L. 



Euphorbia hirta L. 



Phyllanthus Niruri L. 



Acalypha indica L. 



Ricinus communis L. 



Manihot utilissima. 



Ficus benghalensis L. ? ("Nika," 



Maid. "Banyan." Bell.) 

 Artocarpus integrifolia L. (" Sak- 



keyo," Maid.) 

 A. incisa L. f. (" Bambakeyo," 



Maid.) 

 Pouzolzia indica Gaud., var. 



alienata L. 

 Gloriosa superba L. ("Vihala- 



godi," Maid.) 

 Ananas saliva. 

 Musa paradisiaca L. (Bell.) 

 IHoscorea sp. ("Hittala," Maid.) 

 Pandanus odoratissimus L. /. 



(" Ma-kahikeyo," Maid.) 

 Areca Catechu L. 

 Cocos nucifera L. (" Karhi," 



Maid.) 

 Fimbristylis spathacea Roth. 

 Panicum miliaceum L. ("Kudi- 



bai," Maid.) 

 Setana italica Beauv. (" Ura," 



Maid.) 

 Zoysia pungens Willd. 

 Saccharum ojjicinarum L. 

 Eleusine aBgyptiaca Gaertn. 

 E. coracana Gaertn. ("Bimbi," 



Maid.) 

 Eragrostis plumosa Link. 

 Bambusa vulgaris Wendl. 



To this list may be almost certainly added the following : — 



Guettarda speciosa L. Macaranga tomentosa Wight. 



Vernonia cinerea Less. Spinifex squarrosus L. 



Hernandia peltata Meissn. 



There are also a few local names given in Pyrard de Laval's 

 vocabulary which have not been determined, and there are doubt- 

 less some more cultivated plants recorded in general works, marine 

 surveys, &c. 



The above list of eighty-seven species contains forty which may 

 be considered as icHd in the islands, i.e., not due to importation 

 intentionally or accidentally by man. They are for the most part 

 the ordinary sea-shore plants of the Eastern Tropics, and the whole 

 of them are to be found on the south coast of Ceylon. As many as 

 fourteen attain the dimensions of shrubs or trees. 



t This grows also on the Chagos Is., south of the Maldives. Mr. Bell 

 informs me that Lieut. Moresby says, "The Bois Mapou (the roose [= los] 

 tree of the Maldives) grows to an immense size on all parts of the islands ; the 

 wood is soft and spongy." It is also recorded for one of the Laccadive Is. 

 P. viacrojpJtylla Chois. is called "Bois Mapou ' in the beycheiles (Fl. Maw. 263) 



