Vou. I] STEWART—BOTANY OF THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS 213 
under halophytic conditions are a species of Ammophila, prob- 
ably A. arenaria, and Sporobolus virginicus, the last of which 
covers some of the sand beaches with heavy tangled mats. 
Great numbers of land birds were often found feeding in the 
grassy areas in the dry and transition regions, a fact which 
suggests the possible origin of this rather important element of 
the flora. 
The second largest family of the Monocotyledons is the 
Cyperaceae, which are the seventh largest family, in number of 
species, found on the islands. The best represented genus is 
Cyperus, of which there are more than sixteen species and 
varieties, one or more of which occur on all of the islands 
except Brattle. They form a noticeable but not important 
element of the flora in the dry and transition regions, but with 
the exception of C. grandifolius are not conspicuous in either 
the moist or grassy regions. In the Voyage of the Beagle, 
Darwin speaks of beds of Cyperus on the upper parts of James 
Island, in which he found a species of water rail. We were 
able to secure several specimens of this rather rare bird, but 
without exception they were found in beds of Paspalum con- 
jugatum, which grows abundantly in open places throughout 
the moist region on this island. Of the remaining genera of 
sedges Dichronema is represented by one species, Eleocharis 
by three, Fimbristylis by two, and Hemicarpha, Kyllinga, and 
Scleria by one each, none of which are widely distributed over 
the islands or form an important element of the flora in the 
regions where they occur. 
Outside of the grasses and sedges the remaining monocotyle- 
donous families are of little importance. The Orchidaceae 
are represented by four genera of one species each, all of which 
are found above the dry region. The Bromeliaceae are repre- 
sented by Tillandsia, of which there is a single endemic species 
that in places forms a noticeable element of the flora. Other 
monocotyledonous plants are for the most part small and 
rather rare of occurrence. 
Dicotyledoneae 
The Piperaceae and Urticaceae are both small families, the 
first being represented by eight species of Peperomia, all but 
one of which are endemic. These include both epiphytic and 
