234 VEGETATION 



in height. The sandy plain just mentioned is covered with Chloris barbata 

 Nash., Setaria glauca (L.) Scribn., Ipomcea pes-caprce Sw., Canavalia obtusi- 

 folia (Lam.) DC., Cassia bahamensis Mill., Baccharis dioica Vahl., Torrubia 

 longifolia (Heimerl) Britton, Pluchea odorata (L.) Cass., Bumelia loranthi- 

 folia (Pierre) Britton (here called Wild resin), Melochia tomentosa L., and 

 Bourreria havanensis (L.) Miers; with the vines Rhabdadenia biftora (Jacq.) 

 Mill, and Urechites andrewsii (Chapm.) Small. Colubrina colubrina (L.) 

 Small (Wild coffee), not before seen except on Green Cay, was also rather 

 abundant. It formed a spreading tree, about 12 feet high, that gave a dense 

 shade. Here also we first met with the Opuntia triacantha DC. (Dildo cactus), 

 with small purple flowers and very sharp spines. Opuntia tuna Mill., with yel- 

 low flowers, was also scattered about. These Opuntias and the Colubrina ex- 

 tended to the top of the ridge which ran along southern-eastern shore. On the 

 top of this ridge, among the hard, smooth rocks, we found Gossypium barba- 

 dense L. (Cotton) growing wild. Its bolls had opened and the white lint was 

 produced in abundance. Here on top and down the eastern slope grew Agave 

 rigida Mill., Plumiera obtusa L., Metopium metopium (L.) Small (Poison- 

 wood), and Guaiacum sanctum L. (Lignum vitae), all of low, stunted habit. 

 Here we first found Guettardia scabra Vent. In addition to these there were, 

 of course, the plants more ordinarily found in such situations, such as Bumelia 

 loranthifolia (Pierre) Britton (Milk plum), Reynosia septentrionalis Urban 

 (Darling plum), and Bumelia microphylla Griseb. (Ink-berry). This ridge 

 extends in a semicircle, enclosing to the eastward a flat plain that seemed to have 

 been cultivated in part. The vegetation of the enclosed plain was of a distinctly 

 different type from that on the ridge. There was little shrubbery, but weeds 

 and grasses were abundant. Bidens leucantJia Willd., Abena jamaicensis (L.) 

 Hitch., Leptilon canadense (L.) Britton, Phyllanthus niruri L., Turnera ulmi- 

 folia L., Chloris petrcea Desv., Cenchrus tribuloides L., Evolvulus arbusculus 

 Poir., Sida carpinifolia L., and Salmea petrobioides Griseb. were all abundant. 

 The principal scrubs were Lantana crocea Jacq., Lantana involucrata L., 

 Cassia bahamensis Mill., Melochia tomentosa L., Baccharis dioica Vahl., Cor- 

 chorus hirsutus L., and Pithecolobium Jceyense Britton. 



Behind the hills on the northeast side of the cay is a large salt-water 

 pond whose immediate margins are clothed with a dense jungle of Rhizophora 

 mangle L., which varies from a few feet to many feet in width. Behind this 

 is a slightly less dense association of Conocarpus, Laguncularia and Avicennia. 

 Growing among them we found, to our amazement, the Calonyction bona-nox 



