•114 







Mv thanks are due to the Council of the Linnean SocietT 

 for presentation copies of Professor Stanley Gardiner's narrative- 

 of the history, equipment, and work of the Expedition. I am 

 also greatly indebted to Sir David Praia and the Herbarium? 





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south of Esprit Island, on Esprit itself and on the Main Island 

 north-east of Michel. Both Bruguiera and Ceriops do not re- 

 quire niuch mud and are tolerant of a rocky situation, and one 

 which the tide reaches but for a short period. 



Of other mangrove swamp trees there are five genera, the most 

 prevalent being Aviceania marina, which is found all round 

 the lagoon between tide-marks, especially in sandy places. It 

 also forms a large forest in the extreme east of the atoll, where 

 the trees attain a large size. Sonneratia acida is decidedly 

 scarce and occurs only on Esprit and Picard Islands. Carapa 

 obovata and C. moluccensis are both found on Esprit Island, 

 and the latter on Picard and on one of the islands in the western 

 channels. At Esprit a small forest is formed by C. moluccensis 

 between the ridge of rock previously described and the true 

 mangrove swamp. 



2. The Pemphis Bush is composed almost entirely of 

 Memphis acidula, and is found in conjunction with the meta- 

 morphosed limestone. 



3. Open Bush occurs in the neighbourhood of Takamaka, 

 and extends round the atoll, eastward as far as a line drawn 

 from Michel Island to Hodoul Point. To the westward it 

 extends nearly to Dunes Jean Louis; but in this direction it is 

 much reduced in size by the shore-zone passing far inland. 



Plain Cabris on Picard Island also supports the same type of I 



vegetation. The vegetation consists mostly of low ti'ees and ■ 



bushes. Herbaceous plants are scarce, and are only found in 9 



the wet season, when a few sedges and grasses occur in places. 

 The bushes and trees are usually leafless, or partially so, in the 

 dry season, and flower at the commencement of the rains, often I 



before the leaves appear. Almost all the Aldabra plants are to 

 be found in this type of country. A few that are easilv recog- 

 nised are: Euphorbia Abbottii, various species of Ficus, two 

 species of Grewia, and several Leguminosae. Large clumps of 

 Pandanus Vandermeeschii are very frequent, but the majority 

 of plants were not identified in the field. 



4. The Shore Zone extends all round the atoll, varying much 

 in width. It owes its existence to a little soil formed of sand 

 blown up from the reef, and is naturally therefore widest on 

 the south-east coast. Characteristic plants are Scaevola 

 Kocnigii, Toumefortia argentea, and in places Cordda sub- 

 cor data." 



Mr. Walter Fox, late Superintendent of the Botanic Garden 

 at Penang, visited Seychelles, Aldabra, and Assumption in 

 1916, and made a considerable collection of dried plants, which 

 he presented to Kew. This collection, named by the Kew Staff, 

 contained a number of plants not previously reported from the 

 islands, and these have been incorporated in this paper, and 

 the collector's name appended in each case. 



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