C. The vegetation of St. Eustatius, 

 Saba and St. Martin 



CHAPTER I 



NOTES ON THE ASPECT OF THE VEGETATION OF THE 

 THREE DUTCH WEST INDIAN ISLANDS. 



Introduction. 



The vegetation of St. Eustatius, Saba and St. Martin is that 

 of a tropical zone, without any pronounced dry season. As 

 may be seen from the meteorological data the quantity of rain 

 is almost sufficient to make possible the existence of a tropical 

 rainforest vegetation. 



The N. E. tradewinds however are of great influence upon 

 the vegetation; where these winds are not l^roken by mountains 

 we may meet with the typical vegetation of trees blown in a 

 certain direction as well as with the Cactaceae and thornplants, 

 characteristics of a dry climate. 



From the edaphic factors that exert influence upon the charac- 

 ter of the different Plantformations I will in this chapter only 

 draw the attention to the amount of humus that covers the rocks. 

 It is one of the principal factors, as there are a great number of 

 localities where but a small quantity of humus is to be found. 

 Only there were no strong wind is blowing, where the atmos- 

 phere is humid and where the quantity of humus has surpassed 

 a minimum the tropical vegetation shows itself in its wellknown 

 typical features. 



But the above named factors have not exclusively determined 

 the plantcovering of the Islands; one of the greatest factors has 

 been the influence of man, who has been destroying the woods and 

 introducing many plants in culivating the soil. So there are a 

 great number of plants introduced that have superseded the pri- 

 mitive vegetation. 



