V 



112 





46 



9 



* This should read east end according to Dupont's chart, on which 

 White Mangrove m is indicated. — W. B. EL 





Acicennia marina — Manglier Blanc. Verbenaceae. 



II. Mangroves which exist in isolated patches only, except on 

 He Esprit, where seven out of the eight species grow within 1 



fifty yards. f 



Cava fa moluccensis — Manglier Ponime. Mehaceae. 



,, obovata — Petit Manglier Ponime. ,, 



Luuuiitzera racemosa — Manglier Petites Feuilles. C ombre- 



taceae. 





Sonneratia acida — Manglier Fleurs. Lythraceae. 



The essence of Dupont's further remarks on the distribution 

 of the mangroves is embodied in the following abridgment : 



Lumnitzera was seen only at the south* end far inland, form- 

 ing separate bushy groves. Avicennia occupies a large area on 

 the same part to the exclusion of all the other mangroves. The 

 three Rliizophoraceae are constantly mixed together; Bruguiera 

 largely predominating almost everywhere, except in Picarci 

 Island, where Rhizophora is very abundant, and at the south- 

 east and south corners, where Ceriops is much more abundant 

 than elsewhere. The inter-distribution of these Rhizophoraceae 

 warrants the idea of a struggle for life, in which Bruguiera 

 and Ceriops are stronger by means of their buttresses and under- 

 ground roots. For the same reason Avicennia is stronger than 

 the Rhizophoraceae, the latter requiring situations unexposed 

 to the tide. In Middle Island the trees of Rhizophora, are not 

 eo tall as in Pica id, but those of Bruguiera, which predominate, 

 are splendid, and together with Ceriops cover extensive ground 

 all along the lagoon, nine miles in length. 



The forest of South Island covers an area of not less than 

 1300 acres, but the proportion of Rhizophora is only about 4 

 per cent. ; the trees existing in isolated, though sometimes very 

 tall and healthy, patches on the western side. In this eastern y 



portion Bruguiera predominates in some places, Ceriops in »■ 



others. 



Dupont's Distribution Table of the Plants of Aldabra com- 

 prises about 100 species, and it shows their occurrence in 

 Seychelles, Amirantes, Providence, St. Pierre, Astove. Cosmo- . 

 ledo, Assumption, Comoros, Gloriosa, Madagascar and the Mas- 

 carenes, so far as known to the author. It is not nearly so 

 complete or correct as it might have been, because he could not 

 delay the publication of his report until the names of those 

 plants unknown to him could reach him from Kew. A consider- 

 able number of these plants were previously unknown at Kew, 

 and are apparently endemic in Aldabra, though likely to occur 

 in some of the other islands or in Madagascar. 



From this table and other sources of information it i^ evident 

 that the Flora of Aldabra differs from that of the other atolls or 

 small islands named above of what may be termed the Seychelles 

 area. It differs in being much richer in genera and species and 

 in having a considerable endemic element, or at least an element 







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