572 A. E. Verrill— The Bermuda Islands. 
spicuous plants, between those subsequently introduced and those 
that were native there before the settlement. Each case must be 
judged by itself, taking into account the probable chances of natural 
introduction, the manner of occurrence, ete. 
Only very few plants are peculiar to the isiands, or endemic, and 
of these the palmetto is the only conspicuous one. (See ch. 26, a, 
Figure 33.—Bermuda Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium Bermudianum). 
figs. 4, 32, 39). Most of the other native plants were derived from 
the West Indies and the North American coastal regions.* 
When the islands were first settled the flora was remarkable for 
the scarcity of edible plants. The only herbaceous plant mentioned, 
that could afford any human food, was the “prickly pear” or cactus 
* In naming the native Bermuda plants I have followed pretty closely the 
nomenclature used by Hemsley, in Voy. Chall., Botany, vol. 1. 
