THE BOTANY OF ANTIGUA 45 



All round the coast, especially in the numerous bays and 

 harbours, there are swampy tracts covered with Mangroves ; 

 while in other parts the shore consists largely of beaches of coral 

 sand maintaining a well-marked group of halophytic plants. 



D. Human Agency. — As Antigua has been inhabited and 

 cultivated by the British for 250 years, it is evident that a number 

 of plants must have been introduced, intentionally or otherwise. 

 The Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) and Casuarina cquisetifolia 

 are examples of trees which are not really indigenous, but which 

 have almost become a part of the wild Flora. The Coconut 

 {Cocos nucifera), too, is almost certainly an introduced species. 



Of real weeds very few seem to have been brought in ; one 

 good example is the Sow Thistle {SoncJius oleraceus), with its 

 variety S. as^^er, from Great Britain, which is now commonly 

 found around cane fields. Another and a tropical weed is the 

 Mexican Poppy {Argemone mexicana), called "thistle" locally 

 because of its spiny leaves ; this is rarely found except round 

 dwellings or crops, where it is plentiful. 



No doubt the most serious change produced by human agency 

 is seen in the reckless destruction of the native trees in time past 

 for fuel for sugar-making. Although Antigua could not be said to 

 have been covered with forest, nevertheless there were dense 

 thickets and hangers of such valuable trees as the Logwood 

 [HcBmatoxylon campeachianum) and Mango [Mangifera indica) on 

 many hill sides, which are now bare or sparsely covered with 

 small Acacia bushes. This is greatly to be regretted from the 

 view point of conservation of rain ; much of the small rainfall 

 comes in heavy showers upon the parched land and rushes off the 

 surface to the sea through the little channels which exist in all 

 parts and so is irretrievably lost. The presence of strong masses 

 of low trees must also have been a great check upon evaporation, 

 which is very considerable owing to the strength of the sun, the 

 constancy and force of the North-east Trade Wind and the exposed 

 character of the island (except for the mountain valleys already 

 mentioned). 



II. The Flora of Antigua. 



Origin. — As has been shown above, wind and sea can scarcely 

 have brought any new plants to the island, while very few of the 

 plants introduced by man have succeeded in establishing them- 

 selves as wild plants ; though, in addition to the examples given 

 above, we have an interesting case in the pink Lotus Lily, whose 

 large peltate leaves and big flowers adorn nearly all the ponds in 

 the island. 



Some seeds may, however, have been introduced by birds. 

 Duck, geese, and pigeon used formerly to visit Antigua in large 

 numbers and do so still to a less extent. Also terns, frigate birds, 

 pelicans, and sea-gulls are common, and breed on the small islets 

 which abound round the coast ; so, too, do the gaulins, heron-like 

 birds, either white or grey. All these birds are powerful fliers 

 and can pass from island to island with the utmost ease, and some 



