'•THE I'WI.'A OF lli:i!Mri)A" 



71!) 



coral polyps, the Amphioxus, aud the i)hos- 

 phorescent insects and sea auiinals, which 

 light their ghostly lamps as the short tropic 

 twilight begins to blot out the distinctness 

 of the landscape. 



The botanist and the lover of plant life, 

 to whom this volume will appeal most 

 strongly, are interested in the scenery of 

 Bermuda at once, as the steamer, after a 

 voyage of two days and two nights from 

 New York across the Gulf Stream, ap- 

 proaches the archipelago. The hill slopes are 

 clothed with the deep verdure of the pre- 

 vailing Bermuda cedar broken here and there 

 by cultivated fields and clumps of the native 

 palmetto. The blue sea penetrates the land 

 here and there, and the promontories are 

 characterized by the location of attractive 

 villas and planted grounds. The white roofs 

 of the cottages are seen above the tops of the 

 ubiquitous red cedars. The student of plants 

 finds that he can travel readily to all parts 

 of the island group by the fine roads, which 

 are kept in excellent repair by the liberal use 

 of the crushed limestone rock. 



By the use of the manual which Dr. Brit- 

 ton and several collaborators have given us, 

 he can soon learn the more important native 

 plants, which species have been introduced 

 and escaped from cultivation, and which are 

 grown in the fine gardens of the native Ber- 

 mudians. The eleven species of indigenous 

 flowering plants soon become old acquaint- 

 ances; some of them are common, as the blue- 

 eyed grass (Sisyrinchium Bermudiana), which 

 appears in color as the frontispiece of the 

 manual and the color of whose flower is at- 

 tractively reproduced on the covers. The 

 four endemic ferns, including the maiden- 

 hair (Adiantum helium), as well as the 

 mosses, lichens, and algae, have no doubt 

 been collected by him, if in search of a rep- 

 resentative collection of the native plants. 

 He soon learns by a study of the Flora of 

 Bermuda that about 80 per cent of the na- 

 tive land plants inhabit the West Indies, or 

 southern Florida, or both. About 8.7 per 

 cent of the total native flora is endemic, 

 there being 61 species in Bermuda or its 

 waters not known to grow naturally any- 

 where else in the world. The number of in- 

 troduced and completely or partly natural- 

 ized species is about 303. The number of 

 species of cultivated plants which either 

 grow now in Bermuda or are recorded as 

 having grown there, is 864. The number of 



native si)ecies known, those tiiat have reached 

 Bermuda independently of human activities, 

 including the flowering plants, ferns and 

 fern allies, mosses and hepatics, lichens, 

 ;il^;i', ;iihl t'lingi, is at least 700. 



r^laiiy of these forms are illustrated, so 

 that with a description of them, and a fine 

 bibliography and glossary, the visitor should 

 not be at a loss to learn a great deal about 

 the vegetation without undue expenditure of 

 effort. The lal)or which the author has ex- 

 pended in the field, in the herbarium, and in 

 the library, will render easier the labor of 

 others, who may undertake to investigate 

 other phases of the plant life of the archi- 

 pelago. A more detailed study of the fungi 

 and the diatoms is a desideratum, which, un- 

 less investigated by some person resident in 

 Bermuda, must sooner or later be undertaken 

 by some visiting mycologist or diatomist. 



The species of the Bermuda flora are ar- 

 ranged under their respective families, and 

 the handy keys under each family group, 

 with the line drawings given in the text, will 

 enable the tourist lover of plants to identify 

 the greater number of those of the islands 

 which will be met in excursions from place 

 to place, from St. George at one end to Ire- 

 land Island at the other. The more interest- 

 ing facts about the plants have been incor- 

 porated. The reader of the book will find, 

 for example, interesting facts about vari- 

 ous trees. 



The endemic palmetto (Sabal Blaclc- 

 hurnianum), for instance, is common in all 

 but saline situations, and the plants differ 

 greatly in size, depending on soil and situa- 

 tion. This palm, which shows hourglass con- 

 strictions of its stem, was first named botani- 

 cally by Glazebrook in 1829 in the London 

 Gardener's Magazine, 5 :54 and there illus- 

 trated. The specific name was given in 

 honor of a Mr. Blackburn, in whose collec- 

 tion in England it was then known, but all 

 record of its origin had been lost, other than 

 that it came into possession of his grand- 

 father in 1737. It is now frequent in green- 

 houses in Europe and occasional in West 

 Indian gardens. Its closest relative is prob- 

 ably Sahal Palmetto of Florida, the Baha- 

 mas, and Cuba, from the seeds of which, 

 brought to Bermuda by floating, it may have 

 sprung through isolation. Baskets of many 

 kinds, hats, dish-mats, napkin-rings, fans 

 and other small articles are made from the 

 bleached leaves. An intoxicating beverage 



