Vol. 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 



