145 



forest of bare stems, being completely leafless, while most 

 tropical trees gradually lose and replace their leaves. Other 

 plants were of the reguar species which can stand the guano. " 



Gloriosa. 



The following is a list of plants in the Kew Herbarium col- 

 lected by Dr. Coppinger in Du Lise Island, Gloriosa. It has 

 already appeared in my Introduction to the Botany of the 



Challenger Expedition : 



fida 



Hornet, Thesjria populnea, Pemphis acidula, Cucumis triyonus, 



Cordia subcordata, Ipomoea glaberrima, Solarium nodifiorxnn, 

 Boi rliuaria diffusa, Euphorbia prostrata, Cypcrus rotund us, 

 Eragrostis tenella. This is the onlv record of Hibiscus Hornei 

 outside of Seychelles; but I have not been able to verify the 

 determination. 



In a sketch of the natural history of Aldabra Mr. Abbott 

 remarks that Gloriosa seemed comparatively rich in plants. 

 Casuarina and Mangroves are recorded by him; the latter " 50- 

 60 ft. high." 



Dupont tabulates only 20 of the Aldabra plants as occurring 

 in Gloriosa, and these are mostly widely dispersed species. 

 Among them, however, are Ficus nautarwm, F. aldabrense $ 

 Apodytes mauritiana, Cassytha filiformis and Casuarina. Xo 

 Mangrove, no member of the Rubiaceae except Guettarda 

 speciom, and no monocotyledonous plant. Cassytha has 

 apparently not been collected in Aldabra. 



Amihante Group. 



Kew possesses two small collections from this group, made by 

 Dr. Coppinger. In Des Roches he collected : Calophyllum 

 Inophylluwi, Sida spinoSa, Abutilon indicuin, Triumfetta pro- 



cutnbenSy Suriana maritima, Morinda citri folia and Vernonia 

 cinerea. And in Poivre : Pemphis acidula, Guettarda speciosa, 



Tournefort la orgente& 9 Casuarina equisetifolia . Vernonia 



cinerea is an addition, but it is a common weed in the tropics of 

 the Old World. 



Dupont records only 20 species of plants from this group, 

 mostly of the commonest, and including no mangroves, Sarco- 

 stern ma viminale, Ficus nautarwm and Euphorbia Abbottii being^ 

 the only regional representatives. 



Gardiner reports as follows of Poivre Island: — "As rich in 

 coco-nuts as any we saw. The whole was overshadowed by a 

 high clump of bois blanc, TIernandia peltata, while Casuarmas 

 grew everywhere on the shore. Under the coco-nuts was a 

 pleasing undergrowth of papayas, cassias, castor-oil and ferns; 

 the first occurrence of the latter in any abundance since leaving 

 the Chagos.*' Gardiner also mentions Barringtonia speciosa, 



hitherto not reported from Aldabra or any of our other small 

 islands. 



"W ith the exception of Acrostichum aureum in Aldabra, this 

 is the only record of ferns in the islands coming" within our 

 area west of theChasros Archipeago. Kew possesses no speci- 

 mens of ferns from the Amirantes. 



