i20 



••THE FLORA OF BERMUDA" 



called "Bibey" was formerly distilled from 

 its fruit. 



The yellowwood, or satinwood (Zanthoxy- 

 lum flavuyn), native of Florida and the 

 West Indies, was widely distributed in Ber- 

 muda many years ago, but nearly extermi- 

 nated by cutting for its valuable lumber, 

 which was exported to England. This busi- 

 ness was restricted by gubernatorial procla- 

 mation as early as 1632. Old records prove 

 the occurrence of large trees in Cooper and 

 Ireland islands prior to 1693. The large 

 tree recorded by Governor Lefroy as 30% 

 inches in girth about 1872, was, in December, 

 1912, 331^ inches (83 cm.) in girth. It bears 

 Lefroy's initials (EHL). This tree flowered 

 and fruited abundantly in September, 1913. 



The olive appears to have been introduced 

 prior to 1612, being one of the first Old 

 World trees brought to Bermuda. In 1661 

 the Bermuda Company ordered it widely 

 planted, but it never became the basis of an 

 industry. Lefroy states that some of the 

 trees planted in 1661 were standing about 

 1875. This may very well apply to the an- 

 cient tree still in perfect condition at Nor- 

 wood, and perhaps to one at Walsingham. 

 The fruit produced in Bermuda is small and 

 of inferior quality, averaging only about 

 half an inch in length. 



Critical studies, which Dr. Britton has 

 made of all the plants described by him, will 



enable botanists to make the first careful 

 comparison of the Bermuda plants with 

 those of regions near by in order to deter- 

 mine the evolutionary processes involved in 

 their differentiation as new forms. A ques- 

 tion might be asked in this connection : Is 

 the "age and area" hypothesis of WilUs 

 verified in an intensive study of Bermudian 

 plants, such as has been presented in this 

 volume on the flora? 



The visitor from the Eastern United 

 States will find such familiar plants as the 

 narrow-leaved cat-tail, eelgrass, Spanish 

 bayonet, weeping willow, bayberry, red 

 mulberry, pigweed, four-o'clock, chickweed, 

 life plant, red and white clovers, garden nas- 

 turtium, flax, poison ivy, Virginia creeper, 

 tamarisk, sea lavender, persimmon, oleander, 

 French mulberry, henbit, heal-all, spearmint, 

 peppermint, Jamestown weed, mullein, rib 

 grass, chicory, shrubby fleabane, seaside 

 goldenrod, and many others. These and a 

 number of the common weeds of Europe, 

 which are cosmopolitan in their distribu- 

 tion, win give him a floral nucleus on which 

 to begin a more detailed examination of the 

 Bermudian vegetation. 



Dr. Britton's book will be indispensable to 

 all those persons, whether native Bermudians 

 or otherwise, who wish to become acquainted 

 with an interesting, near at hand, oceanic, 

 insular flora. 



The pink flowers of tlie bay bean i^tafiUiut: tmrata) give color to the sand dunes and sea 

 beaches through nine months of the year. The original seeds probably floated to Bermuda from the 

 West Indies or Florida 



