28 



Cane Shot [Canna Coccinea]— Erect leafy 

 plant, sturdy, three to five feet high; leaves 

 long, sheathing the stem, with prominent 

 veins along them. Flowers two inches long, 

 red lip varied with yellow. Abundant in 

 waste corners of fields and inside of stone 

 walls. 



Heath [Russelia Juncea]— An almost leaf- 

 less plant, with long rush-like jointed branch- 

 es, and long scarlet tubular flowers, is abun- 

 dant along old walls. It is not in any way 

 a true heath, but like many other Bermuda 

 plants, the appellation is a misnomer. 



Weeds. 



There is no reliable report or data respect- 

 ing the arboreal or floral vegetation of these 

 islands between the early records and the be- 

 ginning of 1800, 



Herasley, whose report on the botany of the 

 Bermudas in connection with the Challenger 

 expedition is the best work of reference, says 

 the botanical history of these islands really 

 began in 1806 when Michaux visited them. 

 Hemsley thinks the native plants may be put 

 down at from 140 to 150, and that a parallel is 

 offered on the eastern side of the Atlantic by 

 the flora of the Azores. "Weeds and chance 

 "species," he says, "brought here in seed 

 " packages naturalize with facility, and per- 

 "haps few places of so limited an area olfer a 

 "greater variety or so much to gratify a bo- 

 "tanical observer." 



Wild Mustard (Sinapis Nigra)— Stem one to 

 two feet high, with bright yellow Iflowers in 

 long racemes. It is a most troublesome weed 

 to get rid of, and like another species known 

 as Charlock (S. Arvensis) is often so densely 

 grown as to give a field a yellow appearance. 



