10 University of Michigan 



stalactites, stalagmites and other seepage deposits (figs, iv-8, 

 v-13). In addition, less prominent cliffs may occur above the 

 fossil beaches on the leeward side of the hills, and the more 

 recent coral layers quite commonly form lower ridges, which 

 are separated from the more prominent monadnocks of older 

 limestone by valleys parallel to the shore. The true mesas, 

 like the Ronde Klip and the Tafelberg of Santa Barbara, are 

 almost entirely surrounded by steep cliffs. 



The flora of the islands is discussed in detail by Dr. I. 

 Boldingh.^^ "The general impression of the vegetation of the 

 islaitds Curasao, Aruba and Bonaire is that of a dry country, 

 where thorny shrubs and cactuses predominate . . . the vege- 

 tation has everj'Tvhere a rather uniform aspect. . . . Except- 

 ing a few less exposed parts and the higher tops of Curasao 

 and Bonaire, the whole vegetation may be said to have a more 

 or less xerophile character; in many places where the soil is 

 covered by hardly any humus, as on the numerous limestone 

 table-lands, it becomes a poor vegetable cover . . . ; nearly 

 everywhere the soil is clearly visible and not covered by a con- 

 nected vegetation. . . . The type of vegetation might be gen- 

 erally described as a Croton vegetation, . . . determined by 

 plants like Croton, Acacia, Lantana, Melochia, Opuntia, Melo- 

 eactus. . . . Capparis Breynia is characteristic for the vege- 

 tation outside the lime and Rliacoma crossopetalum and 

 Antirrhoea acutata for the lime." (Excerpts from pages 

 .149 and 150.) 



Commonly the omnipresent thorn trees are dwarfed and dis- 

 torted by the dry trade winds ; the foliage of the divi-divi 

 {Caesalpinia coriaria) usually consists of a flat, matted fan, 

 which only spreads out to the leeward of the trunk (fig. v-12). 

 The giant organ-pipe cacti (Cercus) are among the most con- 

 spicuous features of the landscape; planted closely in rows, 

 they form many of the fences (fig. vi-14), although the dead 

 branches of Acacia tortuosa are as commonly used on Cura(^ao. 

 The flat- jointed cacti (Opuntia) are almost everywhere, and 



11 1914; The Flora of Curasao, Aruba and Bonaire; Leiden. 



