NEW COLONIAL FL0EA9. 



47 



siderable tropical area that has ever been brought to a termination, 

 and as such it marks an epoch in the history of descriptive Botany. 

 It is the first of the Coloniairioras, published by Government, the 

 origin and progress of which are detailed in the vols, for 1861 and 

 1863 of the present work. It includes all that is known of the Floras 

 of Jamaica, the Bahama and Turk Islands, Virgin Isles, St. Kitts, 

 Nevis, Montserrat, Dominica, St. Vincent, G-renada, Antigua, Bar- 

 badoes, Tobago, Trinidad, and other smaller islands. Of these by far 

 the largest and best explored is Jamaica, containing 5470 square 

 miles,* and mountains of 8000 feet elevation. The Bahamas rank 

 next, with 5100 miles in all. They lie chiefly beyond the Tropic 

 (between 27° and 21^ N. Lat.), present no elevation of any importance, 

 and their Elora, which has not been well explored, is probably neither 

 rich nor varied. Trinidad has been pretty well botanized, it presents 

 an area of nearly 2000 square miles, and points of elevation of 3000 

 feet. In its climate, geographical features, and Mora, it partakes of 

 the characters of the neighbouring coast of Cumana, and should 

 perhaps rank botanicaUy rather with Venezuela, than with the 

 "West India Islands proper. Of the other Islands, Dominica has 

 been the best explored, but all want a careful botanical investigation. 

 It may not be the case that they will add many species to the Elora, 

 but they will certainly extend the known range of the species very 

 materially. 



The main botanical features of the "West Indies are of course 

 tropical American, and with the exception of the slight approxi- 

 mation of the Elora of the most northern islands to that of the 

 South-Eastern American States, and the more evident affinity of that 

 of the southern islands with the Venezuelan, there seems to be no 

 very marked or contrasting subdivisions of the Elora. Still pecu- 

 liarities occur, which lead Dr. Grisebach to recognise five botanical 

 divisions in the Archipelago. He says in his preface : — 



" Though reaching beyond the Tropics (N. Lat. 10° to 27°), the 

 "West Indian Islands present an entirely tropical character in their 

 vegetable productions, and the Northern Bahamas in this respect 

 are quite distinct from the opposite continental shore of Elorida, 

 from which they are separated by the Gulf stream, while Trinidad, 

 lying almost contiguous to the delta of the Orinoco, partakes of the 



* According- to the American authority which Dr. Grisebach has followed ; but 

 4256 square miles, according to British maps. 



