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ON THE OCCURRENCE OF DAUCUS CAROTA 

 IN HAITI 



By Norman Taylor 



During a recent trip to Haiti, a rather remarkable example of 

 the adaptability of our common wild carrot to tropical condi- 

 tions was noticed at Marmelade, a small town about fifty miles 

 from the north coast. At an approximate elevation of 2,000 feet 

 I found a field very fairly covered with this weed. It was not a 

 case of its recent introduction in corn or hay, as the town is much 

 too far from the sea, and the natives much too poor to import 

 seeds or forage from other countries. 



In colonial times, however, a great deal of Indian corn and 

 seeds of all kinds were taken to the island, and it is only in this 

 way that we can plausibly account for the substantial coloniza- 

 tion of the plant. It must have maintained itself for a hundred 

 years or more, and I later had evidences of its migratory ten- 

 dencies. Along a tiny stream which runs very close to the road 

 from Marmelade to San Michel, an occasional plant was notice- 

 able for ten or fifteen miles, until we came out to a xerophytic 

 plain, where all traces of it were lost. It would be interesting, 

 at some future time, to go over this area again and ascertain how 

 far it had spread 



This is not the first time this troublesome weed has been re- 

 ported from the West Indies, as I find in the herbarium of the 

 New York Botanical Garden a specimen collected at Guadeloupe ; 

 Perc Duss' no. 401 j. 



With the somewhat unusual occurrence of this Daiicus in 

 mind I began looking for other northern species, which from 

 previous reports * might be expected in Haiti, and I was not dis- 

 appointed. In Marmelade, among what passes for the paving 

 stones of a Haitian .street I found a single plant of Tamxacum 

 Taraxacum (L.) Karst. Whether, from the sterility of its en- 

 vironment, the great heat of the sun, or from a combination of 

 the.se causes, I do not know, but the plant was much stunted, 



* Wilson, P. .Some inlroduccd I'lants in Cuba. loncya 4 : l<S<S. 1904. 



