— 120 — 



the ' Vacoa de rner/ — Pandanus Vandermeerschii 

 wHch are endemic to Round Island, Flat Island, Coin 

 de Mire or Gunners' Coin, and perhaps the northern 

 shore of Mauritius, are for the mast part simply 

 weeds, which have a world wide distribution over 

 continents and many different islands within the 

 tropics. 



TheLatanier de I'lle Ronde is a most noble 

 picturesque looking palm, which attains a height of 40 

 or 50 feet, with a crown of about from 15 to 20 sea or 

 glaucously green coloured fan shaped leaves, each 

 about 3 or 4 feet broad and 6 feet long, covered with 

 soft hoary grey down on the underside. 



The Vacoas de Mer is a grotesque looking plant, 

 as can be seen on many parts of the Island. The trunk 

 of the tree is supported above the ground, no matter 

 where the tree may be growing, as if on stilts to keep 

 it out of water, by large roots which it sends out in all 

 directions. 



The old trees have a weird, scraggy appearence, 

 with gouty looking, hoar}'' coloured, gnarled branches, 

 to the end of which are attached in a cork screw spiral 

 fashion, tufts of short sword-shaped spiny-edged 

 leaves,— The leaves of this Vacoa might be used like 

 those of the vacoa, Pandanns utilis— -to make bags? 

 It very much resembles the vacoa, and, if neither be 

 in fruit, the one is not easily distinguished from the 

 other. 



The f mdigenous flora of the Island ia not rich in 

 what may be termed pretty flowering plants. There 

 are only four that need be mentioned ; These are the 

 Crotolaria retusa, "Cascarelle jauue," Citoria Ternatea 

 ** Liane Madame," Ipomea glaberrima, «*Moon flower"? 

 and Ipomoea pes^'Capras, 'f Batatran." 



