MIGRATIONS OF PLANTS 
wide distribution, and some of them had al- 
ready become common the fourth year after 
the eruption. Scattered here and there among 
the Ferns were isolated individuals of flower- 
ing plants, belonging to such kinds as have suc- 
culent seed-vessels eaten by birds, or such as 
have a light, feathery seed-vessel like the Dan- 
delion and a host of others, and are wafted 
from place to place by the winds. 
“On the seashore there were young plants 
and seeds (or seed-vessels containing seeds) of 
upwards of a dozen other herbs, shrubs and 
trees, all of them common on coral islands, 
and all known to have seeds capable of bearing 
long immersion in sea water without injury. 
Among the established seedlings were those 
of several large trees, and a Convolvulus that 
grows on almost all tropical coasts, often form- 
ing runners one hundred yards in length. 
There were Cocoanuts also, though none had 
germinated.” 
The farther such an island is from the land, 
the longer will vegetation take to get estab- 
lished. Darwin found that the isolated islands 
[45] 
