264 ITO ET MATSUMURA I (ii) 



a century ago, wlieu lie wrote tliat tliey " wear a loose clress, 

 tied witli a belt rouiid tlieir waist, tlieir liair is brouglit ligbt 

 up from all sides, and formed into a knot on tlie top of the 

 head, with two metal pins stuck in it," and '* this dress is 

 naturally so graceful, that cven the lowest boatmen havc a 

 picturesque appearance." 



The investigation of the beautiful llora of such a fairy-hmd 

 shoukl, thcrefore, prove not only very interesting to the public, 

 but also not without importance as a contribution to the present 

 state of our scientific knowledge of Eastern Asia. 



The present work is intended to be simply a prelirainary 

 contribution to tlie botany of these ishmds. The authors' labours 

 will be amply repaid, if they serve to facilitate further researches 

 in the same field. 



The materials upou which tlic work is bascd are as 

 follows : — 



1. A small, but interesting, set of some 124 species, many 

 of which, however, are in fragments, collected by Mr. Yamada 

 of the University of Tokyo, during his sliort stay for the purpose 

 of physical observations at Nafa in tlie island of Uchina, and at 

 Naze in the ishmd of Amami-Oshima in August, 1882. 



2. Mr. Y. Tashie,o's important collection mado in 1887, and 

 preserved in the Ilerbarium of the College of Science of the 

 Imperial University of Tokyo. This collection, hitherto but 

 partially examined and determined, though more than a decade 

 has elapsed since it was made, now at length finds fnll recogui- 

 tion in tlic present work. It covers the widest area in the 

 Luchn Ishuids, including Amami-( )shima, Ucliina, and thc 

 Myaku and Yema (or Yayeyama) Archipelagoes, and consists of 

 somc GOO specics ot' Phanerogams and Vascular Cryptogams. 



