198 VEGETATION 



Jacaranda cccrulea Griseb. New Providence and Cat Islands. 



Catesbwa paniculata Northrop. Andros and Green Cay. 



Scolosanthus bahamensis Britton. New Providence. 



Ernodea coTceri Britton. Abaco. 



Stenostomum myrtifolium Griseb. (Given in Grisebach as from the Bahamas, but 



he adds no precise locality.) 

 Myrstiphyllum ligustifolium Northrop. Andros. 

 Scolosanthus bahamensis Britton. New Providence. 

 Anguria keithii Northrop. Andros. 

 Eupatorium bahamense Northrop. Andros. 

 Vernonia bahamensis Griseb. New Providence, Andros, Cat and Inagua Islands. 



Among the endemic species mentioned by Mrs. Northrop are included 

 Croton eleuteria Sw., which was found by Hitchcock on Grand Cayman, and 

 Vanilla articulata Northrop, which she gives in her table of distribution as 

 also from Cuba. To the endemic species listed above we may probably add 

 Zamia tennis Willd., as it is not certainly known outside of the Bahamas. 



The fifty-eight flowering plants that, so far as I have been able to de- 

 termine, have not before been reported from the Bahamas, are given with their 

 distribution in the table on the page following. 



In discussing the relationships of the Bahama flora, we must not forget 

 that the limestone soil and exposure to salt, drought and wind, to which its 

 flora is subjected, would preclude the occurrence in those Islands of many 

 groups of plants that are particularly partial to certain sorts of soil or to 

 fresh water, shade and low temperature. When this is kept in mind, we are 

 not surprised at the absence of such families as Araliacece and Piperacece, 

 although both are quite common in the larger islands of the West Indies, and 

 the Araliacece in the United States also. Peperomia magnolia folia (Jacq.) 

 C. DC., for example, is found in the Bermudas, in south Florida and in 

 several of the West Indies, but neither it nor any other member of its family 

 is found in the Bahamas. The absence of Selaginella, Lycopodium and 

 Equisetum is also in all probability due to uncongenial conditions and not to 

 the lack of means of distribution. On the other hand, the absence of Sapindus 

 saponaria L. is difficult to account for, as it is abundant in Florida, Jamaica, 

 and Central and South America, and in these countries seems able to endure 

 sandy soil and maritime conditions. The singular rarity of Tribulus in the 

 Bahamas has already been remarked upon. 



The distribution of plants among the different islands of the group is a 

 matter of considerable interest. As is to be expected, the littoral plants are 

 practically identical in all the islands, and the majority of other forms also 

 show no particular anomalies of distribution. Attention has already been 



