113 



apparently almost wholly absent from the other islands so iur as 

 investigations have hitherto been carried. 



Mr. .Fryer's report on Aldabra and neighbouring islands is «i 

 •comprehensive one, dealing most fully with Aldabra, Qnd con- 

 taining many paragraphs of interest to the botanist, which are 

 freely repeated here. It contains a chart of the atoll, and the 

 illustrations of scenery give a good idea of its physical feature* 

 and natural aspects. Fryer arrived at Aldabra on the 13th ot 

 September, 1908, and remained there until the 24th of January, 

 1909, so that he Jmd opportunities for studying the fall and 

 spring of vegetation. Concerning the name of the island, Fryer 

 quotes Voeltzkow, that it is probably of Arabic origin, that it 

 has undergone several modifications, and signifies "The Green," 

 in reference to the dense vegetation. Passing to the section 



treating of the vegetation, it should be explained that the main 

 topographical features of the atoll are: the land; the lagoon, 

 comprising the lagoon shores — mangrove swamps — and channel> 

 to the sea ; and the fringing reef and outer slope. In the 

 author's own words: "The floral seasons actually coincide With 

 the climatic. The season of south-east trades is generally a 

 season of drought and rest, and many of the trees being leafless, 

 all forms of bush have then an extremely barren and dead 

 appearance. At the end of October signs of renewed life are 

 visible, and after the first rains in Xovember many plants begin 

 fo flower, often before their leaves have appeared. In December 

 and January the remainder of the plants are in flower, with the 

 exception of a few, which by their condition suggest that they 

 flowered quite at the end of the season. There are roughly four 

 types of vegetation corresponding to four different classes of 

 situation. These are: 1. Mangrove Swamp; 2. Pempliis Bush; 

 3. Varied or Open Bush; and 4. Shore Zone. 



The mangrove swamp fringes the lagoon, but is also found on 

 the seaward coast of the atoll at Camp Frigate and on "Magnan 

 Island in the western channel, where it is protected from the 

 direct force of the waves. It is composed of true man^rov 



Rhizophoraccae ; the genera being JthizopJiora, Bruguiera and 

 {Jeriops. Rhnophora vnicronata is uniformly scattered through 

 almost every part of the swamp, and also forms forests in one or 

 two places, notably Picard and Camp Frigate, which contain 

 few trees of other species. The genus Bruguiera is represented 

 Vv two species, B. gymnorliiza, and another not yet determined,* 

 which together form a large proportion of the forest along 

 Malabar and Main Islands and especially to the south of Michel 

 Island. It is the largest tree on Aldabra and reaches a height 

 of 60-70 ft. Of the genus Ceriops there are apparently three 

 species, 0. Candolleana and two others. On Aldabra it is an 

 uncommon genus and is most prevalent at Lance Cavallier. 



* Mr. Fryer hoped to be able to publish the grounds on which he formed 

 the opinion that he had to do with two species of Bruguiera and three of 

 Ceriops. Other writers have expressed similar convictions, and there may 

 be differential characters which are not evident in dried and spirit-preserved 

 specimens. At all events, I recognised only one species of Bruguiera and 

 one of Ceriops in the material collected by Fryer, and now I am unable to 

 re-examine it. — W. R. H. 





