I 



July 31, 1890] 



NATURE 



3^: 



This is perhaps the most finished piece of systematic 

 and geographical botany yet published in English by a 

 Japanese botanist, and it will give the author a reputation 

 for completeness and conciseness that might be envied 

 by many western botanists. The enumeration is based 

 partly on personal observation and partly on scattered 

 records and herbarium specimens, for which full refer- 

 ences are given ; and all authorities are cited, so that the 

 sources of information are not uncertain, as is too often 

 the case. 



The Kurile Islands form a chain nearly 800 miles long, 

 extending from the southern point of Kamtschatka to 

 Yezo ; and, by treaty with Russia in 1875, they are now 

 all under Japanese rule. The principal islands are about 

 twenty-four in number, but they are only partly inhabited, 

 on account of their barrenness and lack of good water. 

 The whole chain is described as of volcanic origin, and 

 fifty-two cones have been observed, seventeen of which 

 were active. The coasts generally are precipitous and 

 unapproachable, and the few bays and coves they possess 

 are insufficiently sheltered to be safe for ships in bad 

 weather. Indeed, some of the islands can only be visited 

 in the perfectly calm weather of the summer-time. In 

 consequence of the sea-currents from the north, the 

 climate is very cold for the latitude (about 43"^ to 51°), 

 and dense fogs prevail during easterly or southerly winds. 

 There is, however, a marked difference in the climate of 

 two or three of the southern islands, which come under 

 the influence of a warm current running to the north- 

 east. North of Etorofu the islands are locked in ice 

 from November till April or May, and the mountains are 

 snow-capped throughout the summer ; hence it is not 

 surprising to learn that the vegetation is of a sub-arctic 

 character. 



Mr. Miyabe's enumeration comprises 299 species of 

 flowering plants, and 18 vascular cryptogams; but it is 

 not supposed that these numbers exhaust the flora. These 

 317 species belong to 187 genera and 53 natural orders, 

 and 21 of the latter are represented by a single genus, 

 and 9 by a single species each. The natural orders com- 

 paratively rich in genera are : Compositae, 15 ; Rosaceae 

 and Liliaceas, 12; Gramineas, 11 ; Ranunculaceae and 

 Ericacea;, 8 ; Cruciferaj and Umbelliferae, 7 ; and most of 

 these orders are the richest in species, though the Caryo- 

 phyllaceae and Scrophulariaceae come in before the Cru- 

 cifera^ and Umbelliferae. The Compositas number 30 

 species ; the Rosaceae, 23 ; the Gramineae, 17 ; and the 

 Ericaceae, 16. It is noteworthy that in this small flora, 

 or, rather, portion of a flora, the Compositae form a rela- 

 tively high percentage, as they do in the Arctic flora and 

 in the various regions of Central and Eastern Asia, from 

 the Caspian to Japan, whose floras have been analyzed 

 by Maximowicz. So f;ir as at present known, the Kurile 

 flora contains no endemic element, unless we except two 

 imperfectly-known plants, which, however, as Mr. Miyabe 

 obser\es, are much more likely to be forms of more 

 widely-spread species. North of the islands mentioned 

 as under the influence of a warm sea-current, the flora 

 is largely composed of species having a wider range, 

 many of them all round the northern hemisphere, 

 and species having a more or less wide area in 

 North-East Asia. The facts that upwards of 25 per 

 cent, of the species are British, and that 84 per cent, 

 of the genera are spread over Europe, Northern Asia, 

 and North America, will assist us in forming an idea of 

 the general composition of the vegetation. Only three 

 of the genera are restricted to the mountains of tropical 

 Asia and North-Eastern Asia — namely, Skimmia, Craw- 

 furdia, and Acanthopanax. Mr. Miyabe finds that 26 

 per cent, of the species are American-Asiatic ; and 10 

 per cent, of these reach Eastern North America. Only 

 six genera occur which do not reach Japan — namely. 

 Parry a, Tetrapoma, Claytonia, Lupinus, Armer/a, and 

 Dodecatheon. 



NO. 1083, VOL. 42] 



The existence in the southern islands, Kunashiri and 

 Etorofu, of such plants as the following is strong evidence 

 of a warmer climate : Dianthus superbus, Hypericum 

 ereciian, Skitumia japonica, Ilex crenata, Rhus Toxico- 

 dendron, Hydrangea scandens, Aralia racemosa, Acantho- 



\ panax ricinifolia, Crawfurdia japonica, and Batnbusa 

 Kurilensis. The bamboo is said to grow so thick and so 



I tall in the neighbourhood of Shana, in Etorofu, as to form 



I almost impassable thickets. 



I Mr. Miyabe concludes his discussion of the flora of the 



i Kuriles in the following words : — " From these observa- 

 tions I agree with Prof. Milne in the opinion that, at the 

 time of the last great southerly migration of the rich 

 polar flora, Japan received her portion mostly through the 

 island of Saghalin, and but little, if any, through the then 

 uncompleted chain of the Kurile Islands." 



The Bahamas. 



A provisional list of the plants of this chain of islands, 

 by John Gardiner and L. J. K. Brace, edited by Prof. C 

 DoUey, appears in the Proceedings of the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1889, pp. 131-426. 



This is not intended as a critical review, and perhaps 

 an avowed provisional list is, in a sense, exempt from 

 such an ordeal ; yet it seems no more than right to call 

 attention to the extraordinary notes and remarks under 

 some of the species, genera, and orders, so that the 

 writer who is responsible for them may have the oppor- 

 tunity of claiming all the credit due to him. Taking the 

 first of the dicotyledons, Clematis Vitalba, it is said 

 to be " indigenous and nearly cosmopolitan " ; and Del- 

 phiniu7n sp. is recorded as " indigenous from old world," 

 whatever that may mean. The Bixineae, " as a whole, have 

 fully bitter and astringent properties, and some of the 

 members are poisonous." This is indefinite, but the 

 Compositae are described as " plants mostly possessing 

 a bitter principle which renders them tonic " ; and Eupa- 

 torium (a genus of about 500 species) "is extensively 

 used as a remedy for malaria." A more definite state- 

 ment, " grasses are valuable as food for cattle and men," 

 is true, although the instances on record of men having 

 eaten grass itself are exceedingly rare. Some of the 

 remarks on the distribution of the plants enumerated, and 

 really restricted to the West Indian region, or the West 

 Indian and Mexican regions, are equally incomprehen- 

 sible. Thus Alvaradoa amorphoides, a shrub inhabiting 

 the Bahamas, Cuba, and Mexico, including the interior 

 province of Chihuahua in the north, is said to be found on 

 "all tropical coasts." The work abounds in indefinite, 

 and often unintelligible, remarks on the medicinal proper- 

 ties of plants. Under Clethra tinifolia we find the note : 

 " This plant does not appear to be of use for anything. 

 The order [Ericaceae] has astringent properties. Its 

 leaves and flowers are used as a diaphoretic ; they are 

 saponaceous and detergent." 



The list itself is largely compiled from Grisebach's 

 " Flora of the British West Indies," and from names 

 communicated from Kew to Mr. Brace, based on speci- 

 mens suppHed by him from time to time ; and is so far 

 approximately correct. On the other hand, some of the 

 additional names are strangely inaccurate and far-fetched 

 Thus, Sinapis Brassicaia, Linn., a Chinese plant, now be- 

 lieved to be the same as S.juncea, is put down as mustard,^ 

 and as native of the West Indies. It is true that Grisebach 

 uses this name in his " Flora of the British West Indian 

 Islands," therefore it is, to that extent, excusable. That 

 an " M.D." and a Professor of Biology should be so care- 

 less of his reputation as to publish such undigested matter 

 is inconceivable. Apart from its faults, the list is imper- 

 fect so far as our present knowledge goes, and it may be 

 better to await an emended edition before attempting to 

 give any particulars of the flora here. 



