924 



C. SKOTTSBERG 



On the slope leading up to the Puente (PI. 102: i) are scattered individuals of 

 Apium fernandezianmn (type locality), Plantago triincata ssp. Skottsbergii and 

 Spergularia confertiflora. The rock, which easily disintegrates, is almost free 

 from lichens, but Buellia halophila, Caloplaca elegans v. australis, C. Selkirkii 

 and Leamora conspersa were collected on harder surfaces. 



The Vegetation of Santa Clara. 



This barren island, where no running water is found, belongs to the same 

 climatic district as the lower west section of Masatierra but enjoys (Johow 2 p. 

 261) frequent rains during the winter months giving birth to a cover of herbs 

 and grasses which support a herd of goats. In summer the island looks like a 

 desert. Of the native flora little or nothing is left. The coast is bordered by a 

 high cliff and accessible in a single place on the leeward side, where a srnall 

 detached rock or islet, El Morro del Spartan (also called M. de los Alelies; aleli = 

 Matthiola inca)ia, sown here by fishermen), offers some shelter and permits landing 

 on either side of the channel in good weather. The interior of Santa Clara is a 

 sandy, dissected table-land averaging perhaps 100 m in altitude but the highest 

 hill is 375 m according to Johow's map. At the time of our visit most of the 

 annuals were gone, and some may have escaped notice. 



55. (14 C.) Avena barbata-Sociation. Table-land of Santa Clara, opposite 

 Morro del Spartan, 26/1 191 7. 



II: 3 Rumex pulcher 



Rea p-imiata i rare Salicornia permnana 



Sonchus oleraceus 



^'•2 Silene gallica 

 Avena barbata abundant 



Centaurea melitensis ^^' ' 



Chenopodiuni murale Amblyopappus pusillus 



Erigeron canadensis Malva parviflora 



Hordeum murinum Medicago denticulata 



Matthiola incana Plantago tfuncata ssp. Skottsbergii 



Melilotus indicus Spergularia confertiflora 



Rumex crispus VVahlenbergia Berteroi rare 



In a narrow ravine in the coast cliff with some moisture and inaccessible to 

 the goats grew a few specimens of Dendroseris litoralis and Rea pridnata. It 

 must have been in a place of this kind Johow saw Adiantuin chjlense, Asplenium 

 obliquum and Blechmim aiiriculaimn . 



Morro del Spartan consists of the same soft volcanic rock as in Bahia del 

 Padre and on Santa Clara and is, as in all these places, cut through by thin vertical 

 dykes of hard, dark basalt; it has become just as invaded by weeds as the island 

 itself, but because the goats are unable to cross the stony channel, where the 

 tidal current is strong, a few native plants, which otherwise would have disap- 

 peared long ago, are still to be seen and give to this isolated spot a rather pe- 

 culiar appearance; the vegetation bears a distant resemblance to pictures of open 

 Campos in Brazil. The soft rock is devoid of lichens. PI. 103. 



