4o8 C. SKOTTSBERG 



Umbelliferae. 



Apium L. 



prostratum Labill. Austral-circump., incl. A. australe Thouars. 



Primulaceae. 



Sai/iolus L. 9 (i2?), I cosmop., 2 (5?) N. Amer., 3 southern S. Amer., i S. Afr., 

 I W. Austral., and the following. 



repeus (Forst.) Pers. Austral-circump. 



Gentianaceae. 



Erythraea Neck. (Centaurium Hill.) 30-40, subtrop.-temp. 

 aus trails R. Br. Austral., N. Caled., Fiji. 



Convolvulaceae. 



Calystegla R. Br. 7-8, temp.-subtrop. 



sepliun (L.) R. Br. forma. All continents, also reported from Australia, but 

 possibly introduced in the s. hemisph. 

 Iponiaea L. 



pes caprac (L.) Roth. Pantrop. 



Solanaceae. 



Lyclum L. About 100, most numerous in S. Amer. 



carollnlanum Walt. var. sandvlcciise (Gray) L. C. Hitchc. Rapa, Hawaii. 



The flora is extremely poor, not much richer than in the low coral islands: 

 16 families, 26 genera and 31 species, and I am not at all sure that all of them 

 are indigenous and did e.xist here before man appeared on the scene; some may 

 have been accidentally or purposely introduced by the aborigines, by the American 

 whalers and in modern times. With regard to the "endemic" Sohnium bisulae 

 Paschalls Bitter, see 2/i.g\ it was used as medicine. Four species are endemic 

 (13 %), but three of them belong to large grass genera needing monographic study. 

 FORSTER mentions [347), beside some cultigens, only Paiilciiui filiforme Jacq. 

 ( = Digitaria sanguinalis), a common weed, Shcfficldla ( = Samolus) ripens, Avena 

 fillforiuls ( = Calamagrostis retrofracta) and Solanum )i7gruin\ in his journal (j'./<5') 

 he refers to Aplum, which he knew from New Zealand, to "'Mimosa' ( = Sophora), 

 and also to the former occurrence of sandalwood. In regard to the distribution 

 of Santalum in Southeastern Polynesia, where 5. insular e Bert., including varieties, 

 is known from Tahiti, Raiatea, Marquesas, and Austral Is., and ^\ heiidersonense 

 F". B. R. Brown (very close to the former) is found on Henderson Island in the 

 extreme south-east of the island swarm, it did not seem incredible that sandal- 

 wood once occurred on Easter Island, perhaps introduced by the aborigines; not 

 very long ago vS. yasi Seem, was introduced to Tonga and is well established there. 

 The matter is sufficiently interesting to be discussed here. 



Tradition tells that when Hotu Matua, the legendary hero of the Easter 

 islanders, took possession of the island, he brought various useful trees and other 

 plants, a story first told by FoRSTER (j^<5'. 583). Metraux (7^*10.15-17) enu- 



