THE BAHAMA ISLANDS 235 



(L.) Small (Moon flower) of our gardens. Within this association are open 

 places of various sizes where the ground is composed of soft, white mud that 

 is so extremely salt and barren as to be in some places entirely devoid of 

 vegetation. Avicennia, low and depauperate, extends farthest into these mud 

 flats. The individual plants are widely scattered, but their aerial roots project 

 thickly out of the ground. Among them, but extending not quite so far in, 

 grows the grass Sporobolus virginicus Kunth, which next to the Avicennia is 

 probably the most salt-resisting plant in the Bahamas. Salicornia ambigua 

 Michx. is in many places mixed with the grass, or either may occur in pure 

 association. Sesuvium portulacastrum L. is often found among the Salicornia, 

 or just behind, it. This flat marsh rises very gradually towards the west and 

 as conditions become a little less hard, Baccharis dioica Vahl. makes its appear- 

 ance and soon gets to be abundant. Next appears the Dodoncea viscosa L. 

 (Candlewood), with its winged pods; then Pithecolobium keyense Britton 

 (Ram's horn), Torrubia longifolia (Heimerl) Britton (Blolly), and Reynosia 

 septentrionalis Urban (Darling plum). About the point where the latter ap- 

 pear, the flat plain that we have previously described begins. 



Fine specimens of the hog-cabbage palm are said to grow on the northern 

 edge of the island, but as we were ashore but a few hours we had no time to 

 look for it. 



WATLINGS ISLAND. 



Beginning with the beach, we shall describe the vegetation met with as 

 one passes directly eastward from Cockburn Town across the island until the 

 second large lake about 6 miles inward is reached. Further than this we did 

 not go. For the sake of convenience the plants will be described under the 

 different formations and associations that were included in this range. 

 Beginning then with the beach on the western side, we have first : 

 THE SAND-STRAND FORMATION. This may be divided here into four 

 plant associations, as follows: 



1. Tournefortia-Suriana Association. This occupies the rocky or sandy 

 ledge that runs along the beach at high-tide mark. The rock here is not hard, 

 but soft and generally covered with sand. The association is but a few feet 

 wide and, beside Tournefortia and Suriana, contains scarcely any other plants, 

 except a little trailing Ambrosia hispida Pursh. Behind this ledge there is a 

 sandy flat of about 20 feet in width which is covered by the following : 



2. Distichlis- Ambrosia Association. The two plants, Distichlis maritima 



