FLORA OF ST. CROIX AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS. 1 1 



The part of the island inhabited and cultivated by man of course rep- 

 resents the least of interest in a phyto-geographical sense, as nature here 

 has been modified and modelled according to the wishes and necessity 

 of society to such an extent as to almost entirely obliterate its original 

 character. As stated already, the principal object of cultivation is the 

 sugar-cane, which, however, is cultivated on a large scale only in the 

 two largest and most level of the islands, Vieques and St. Croix, the 

 others, viz. St. Thomas, St. Jan, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda, having, 

 with a few exceptions, long ago abandoned the cultivation of the cane 

 as uiiremunerative, the two remaining of the larger islands, Culebra 

 and Aneguda, never having been appropriated to that purpose. 



Besides the cane, some Sorghum vulgare is also cultivated in fields for 

 herbage, the. rest of the tilled soil being used for the planting of the 

 common tropical vegetables, generally in small quantities, on patches 

 of soil selected here and there. The commonest of these plants are Yam 

 (Dioscorea alata and alti-ssima), Sweet Potato (Ipomcea Batatas], Okro 

 (Abelmoschus esculentus), Tanier (Xantliosoma sagittcefolium), Pigeon-pea 

 (Cytisus Cttjan), Tomato, and Pepper (Capsicum), as well as some Cucur- 

 bitacese, as Pumpkin, Melon, and others. 



Along with these useful plants follow a great number of herbaceous 

 annuals, mostly cosmopolitan weeds, introduced after the settlement of 

 the islands, and dependent on the continuous cultivation of the land, as 

 without the clearing of the soil from shrubs and trees their existence 

 would soon be terminated by the stronger arboreous species, which 

 would deprive them of the necessary light and air. 



Thus, much against his wish, man favours the propagation of innu- 

 merable weeds, which in their short period of vegetation produce seeds 

 enough to secure their continuance on the land notwithstanding the 

 efforts to exterminate them by frequent weeding. Among the com- 

 monest of these forms are some Labiate (Leonurus sibmcus, Leonotis 

 nepetcefolici) and Leucas martinicemis), Argemone mexicana, Tribulus max- 

 im m, jBoerhaaria erecta and paniculata, and especially many grasses 

 and sedges, such as Panicuin, Paspalum, Chloris, Digitaria, Cyperus, 

 and others. The most troublesome of these, from an agricultural point 

 of view, is the Bay-grass (Cynodon Dactylori), said to be introduced, but 

 now found everywhere, and, on account of its long creeping rhizoma, 

 inexterminable. 



Similar forms to these are seen growing along roads and ditches, espe- 

 cially some Leguminosa?, as Crotalaria, Desmodium, Phaseolus, Clitoria, 



