380 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Ser. 



occurs along the faces of almost perpendicular cliffs, the roots 

 being able to hold on to a mere crevice or shelf of rock, while 

 the trunks grow up parallel with the wall of the cliff. There 

 is also a species of palm which grows mostly above 400 feet 

 elevation. Some specimens of this were collected lower down, 

 but they are in a sterile condition. At least two species of 

 Ficus occur here, one of which forms banyan trees of some 

 size. The largest, and probably the most important tree from 

 an economic standpoint, is one which bears the common name 

 of "iron wood" according to Captain Gissler, who says that 

 there are trees on the island so large that timbers 3X3X60 

 feet could be cut from them. The wood of this tree is dark 

 brown in color and very hard. 



Underneath the trees there is usually a dense growth of 

 bushes, so thick in most places that traveling through them is 

 extremely difficult. In fact we found that the easiest way to 

 get into the interior of the island was to follow up the beds of 

 the larger streams, and occasionally make short excursions off 

 to the side. The most common bushes are; Eugenia paciiica, 

 Clidemia hirta, C. umhonata, Miconia dodecandra, and Cli- 

 badium acuminatum; three of which belong to Melastomaceae, 

 and are the most abundant. Ferns also occur abundantly, 

 forming a very important element of the undergrowth. Ex- 

 tensive brakes are formed by Nephrolepis hiserrata, especially 

 where the large vegetation is more or less open. The moist 

 banks along the sides of the streams are usually heavily 

 covered with ferns, those which occur in such places being: 

 Adiantum petiolatum, Asplenium cristatum, Ceropteris calo- 

 melanos, Hymenophyllum sp., Polybotrya cervina, Polypo- 

 dium aureum, Trichomanes crispum, and T. elegans. Also- 

 phila armata is the only tree-fern found on the island. 



Filices are by far the largest family represented in the 

 collection, twenty out of the seventy-seven species of vascular 

 plants collected belonging to it. Of the remaining families of 

 vascular plants there are none that contain more than five 

 species, and the majority are represented by but one or two. 



Endemic species are included in the following: Chloris 

 paniculata, Kyllinga nudiceps, Cecropia Pittieri, Eugenia 

 paciiica, Osscea macrophylla, Ardisia cuspidata, Bertiera 

 angustifolia, and Clihadium acuminatum. 



