ON THE DISPERSAL OF PLANTS. 273 
Hernandia peltata, Meissn. Keeling Atoll and North Keel- 
ing Island. 
Euphorbia, sp. aff. E. thymifolie. North Keeling Island. 
Casuarina equisetifolia, Forst. Keeling Atoll (introduced). 
Almost all the above are common littoral plants, and all 
but three in every probability formed part of the original flora 
of the island. The evidence for this statement will be found 
in a note at the end of this paper.* 
After I have endeavoured to give a general idea of the 
other vegetation of the islands of Keeling Atoll before man’s 
occupation, I will refer to the plants of North Keeling 
Island, and then I will proceed to harmonise the facts with 
my observations on the dispersal of plants. 
- On the weather or seaward sides of the islands of Keeling 
Atoll, Tournefortia argentea and Scevola Kenigii lmed the 
beach, just as they do at the present time. It is worthy of 
note that these plants, in places where they are exposed to 
the full force of the South-East Trade and of the frequent 
hurricanes and gales, have a very stunted growth. In 
sheltered situations, as on the lee or west side of the atoll 
and in a few places bordering the lagoon, they grow to a much 
greater height, and possess more abundant foliage, and more 
numerous flowers, These facts go to show that these two 
plants do not necessarily prefer exposed situations on the 
weather coasts of islands. They are most frequent there 
because the waves first stranded their seeds on the weather- 
coasts; but if their seeds became a favourite food with crabs 
and birds, they would soon be distributed all over the interior 
of the islands. As it is, however, crabs and birds do not 
assist the spread of these plants in any marked degree, and 
they are in consequence restricted for the most part to the 
coasts where first they obtained their footing, whence their 
seeds are drifted by the waves to the coasts of the other 
islands, or they may be transported, as I shall subsequently 
show, in the crevices of logs and floating pumice. 
A species of Pandanus was also frequent on the southern 
and eastern coasts; but in clearing the ground for cocoa-nut 
palms, the pandanus trees have been almost entirely removed, 
and only survive in any number at the South-East Cape, 
where exposure to the strong Trade and to hurricanes has 
given them astunted growth. Bushes of Pemphis acidula grew 
* It is of importance that this note should be referred to, because the 
apparent absence of certain common littoral plants from the flora of this 
atoll has been a subject of surprise. 
