884 



for burning ; and, plantations being seldom or never formed, it thus 

 decreases rapidly. On a closer inspection, however, the botanist is 

 gratified by finding that the first impression is very deceptive ; and, 

 indeed, it is probable, that whether as regards the number of species, 

 or the variety of new and interesting forms comprised in its Flora, the 

 island is, for its size and geographical position, entitled to a very 

 high rank. 



The littoral^ Flora consists of Vitex trifolia, the fruit of which 

 resembles allspice in taste, Clerodendron inerme, Scaevola taccada, 

 ChenopodinjB ? sp., Ipomoea pes-caprae, trailing to an immense dis- 

 tance along the sands, and rooting at intervals, Dilivaria ilicifolia, 

 two or three species of Euphorbia, Guilandina bonduccella, forming, 

 in some places, impenetrable thickets, Wollastonia scabriuscula, Pla- 

 tycodon grandiflorum, always amongst rocks close by the sea, Crota- 

 laria calyciua and C. albida, ^giceras majus, Ardisia crispa, Pari- 

 tium tiliaceum, which affords a magnificent spectacle when covered 

 with its fine sulphur-coloured flowers, which are much infested by a 



* It may not be uninteresting^ to compare with this list the littoral Flora of other 

 islands at no great distance. That of Malacca, according to the late Mr. Griffith, 

 consists of Calophyllum, Sideroxylon, Scaevola, Pterocavpus?, Terminalia catappa, 

 Verbesina, Premna, Ficns, Vaccinium, Sapindeae, Hoya, Cassyia, Grammatophyllum, 

 Loranthus retusus, Vitex, Xylocarpus, Crotalaiia longipes. Calamus, Myrica, Euge- 

 nia, Epithinia, Plectranthus, a Pomacea, Maba, Gmelina, Avicennia, Rhizophora, 

 Hydrophytum, Pogonatherum, Filices, Algee, &c. That of Prata Island (Prata, in 

 Portugese, silver; several vessels freighted with treasure having been lost there), a 

 low coral islet, situated in N. lat. 20° 42' 65'/, and E. long. 116° 44' 45'/, and bear- 

 ing S.E. by E. 175 miles from Hongkong, according to a collection that was brought 

 to me of all that is found theron, comprises Ipomaea pes-caprae, Tournefortia argen- 

 tea, Euphorbia, Morus alba, no doubt of accidental occurrence, Cassyta, Morinda 

 bracteata, Scaevola taccada, a very beautiful and distinct species of Portulaca, with 

 yellow flowers (P. psammotropha, mihi, in Walp. Ann. Bot. Syst. ii. ined.), and an 

 apparently new genus, closely allied to Pyxipoma (Psamathe marina, mihi, 1. c). 

 The " Nooid Wachter " (a very small, uninhabited island, probably in no part twenty 

 feet above the level of the sea, and with a soil composed exclusively of broken-up 

 white coral, and a slight admixture of decayed vegetable matter, situated between 

 Java and Sumatra, in lat. 5° 12' 30" S., and long. 10t;« 32' E., and bearing from 

 Batavia N. by W. f W. 60 miles, which the writer had an opportunity of visiting, 

 owing to the vessel in which he returned from China striking on a reef, and remain- 

 ing fixed there), is thickly clothed with lofty arborescent figs, Ilhizophora, Pemphis 

 acidula, a large-leaved, tall Euphorbiacea, Morinda, a lilac -flowered leguminous 

 plant (apparently a Canavalia), a Cinchonacea, Scicvola taccada, Pij)er betel. Cala- 

 mus, and some others, which he was, from want of books, and on account of the cir- 

 cumstances of his stay, unable to determine. There were no palms ; but all the plants 

 observed were unquestionably wild. 



