199 
There is abundant evidence in support of the dispersal of species 
of Erythrina by ocean currents, and in the case of FE. indica and 
£. ovalifolia the evidence is particularly striking. In 1883 the 
islands of the Krakatau group, situated in the Straits of Sunda, 
were the scene of the most violent volcanic explosion of historic 
times, which completely destroyed the original vegetation, burying 
it beneath a thick pall of glowing ashes. Treub, who visited them 
three years later, found seedlings of nine species of phanerogams 
growing on the drift zone of the beach, among which was an 
Lrythrina, All had presumably grown from seeds or fruits cast up 
by the waves. Penzig, who investigated the vegetation in 1897, 
found both Erythrina indica and FE. ovalifolia among the plants 
which had established themselves on the beach. 
Guppy,* who has investigated the question of plant distribution 
in the Pacific, divides the seeds and fruits which are distributed by 
ocean currents into three groups (1) where the floating power is 
derived from unoccupied space in the cavity of the seed or fruit, no 
part of the seed or fruit possessing independent floating power ; 
(2) where the floating power is due mainly or entirely to buoyant 
kernels ; (3) where it is due to the presence of air-bearing tissue in 
the seed-coats or wall of the fruit. The seeds of Erythrina indica 
and £. ovalifolia belong to the second group. 
Full references and a summary of the distribution of E. ovalifolia 
may be found useful. 
vol, xxx, p. 174; King, Materials, vol. iii. p. 72; Perkins, ae 
Fl. Philipp. vol. i, p. 85; Merrill in Philipp. Gov. Lab. Publ. 
No. xxvii. p. 39; Ernst, Fl. Krakatau, p. 41. 
£. fusca, Lour. Fl. Cochinch. 1790, p. 427, fide Koord. et 
Valet, |. c. 
78 - 
India. Bengal, Sylhet, Assam, Burma, Malay Peninsula, 
Arrica. Pemba Island. Mascarene Istanps. Comoro Islands, 
E. fusca, Lour. takes priority over £. ovalifolia if Koorders and 
Valeton are correct in making them synonymous, “erage 
* Observations of a Naturalist in the Pacific, vol. ii., Plant Dispersal. 
