GENERAL ASPECTS OP THE FLORA OF JAPAN. 103 



Isachne Clai'kii HoOK- f- Arundinnria tiiitakayamensis PIay- 



Agrostis Clar/cL-i HoOK. f. Lycopodium obsci.i^iun LlNN. 



Calamagrostis artmdiuacea Roth. BotrycJiiiini ternatuni LiNN. 



Festuca ovina LiNN. Cry/iogramnie Briuioniaua Wali.- 



The flora of Formosa, so far as is known to us up to the present 

 time, comprises 3,658 species and 79 varieties, belonging to 1,197 

 genera and 170 families, including flowering plants and vascular 

 Cryptogams. The endemic elements are comparatively numerous, as is 

 to be expected in an island. They are represented by Oreopanax 

 formosoma, Leo nto podium microphyUum, Titanotridutm Oldhami, 

 Helicia formosana, Cliamaecyparis formosensis, Ounninghamia Konishii, 

 Taiioania cri/ptomerioides, Finns fornwsana and many others, and by the 

 endemic genera, Diplocarex, Titanotriclmm, Diplo/atsia, Taiioania, 

 Alnipliyllum and others. Of these genera, the two latter, Taiivania 

 and Alniphylhtm, have recently l)een found on the Chinese continent. 



IX. The Loo-choo Islands (24^-30°N.Lat., 122°-130°E.Long.) 



The islands stretch out one after another like so many stepping 

 stones between Formosa and Japan. The flora of the islands is in its 

 general aspect of a troi)ical character. Southern elements such as 

 Ficus retnsa Linn. vai'. nitida. Miq. and Terminalia Cattapa Linn. 

 are everywhere found. On the shore, we meet with jiure stands of 

 Fandanus odoratissiinus Linn., while in the interior we find Cycas 

 revoluta Thunb. at home. Tree-ferns such as CyatJiea spinulosa are 

 commonly found in groups at the foot of the mountains. In the 

 lagoons, exist mangroves mainly of the species Avicennia officinalis 

 Linn. Lwnnitzera racemosa Willd., Brugide^xi cylindrica Bl., Kan- 

 delia Rheedii Wight et Arn., Bliizopliora mucronata Lam., Barringtonia 

 racemosa Roxb , Barringtonia speciosa Forst., Sonneretia alba Smith., 

 Livistona chinensis E,. Br. and Arenga Engleri are found wild in the 

 plains. An endemic banana, Musa liulciuensis Mak. is common. 

 Troclwdendron aralioides S. et Z. and Mitrastemon Yamamotoi Mak. 

 are plants worthy of notice, the former being the only representative 

 of the Trochodendraceae and the latter, a parasite belonging to the 

 Kafflesiaceae. Endemic species are many :- they are represented by 

 Tashiroea okinaiaensis Matsum., T. yayeyamensis Matsum., Finus 

 luchuensis Mayr, Janiperus lutclmensis Koid., Cycas revoluta Thunb. 

 and others. 



