294 D. Prairx— r^e Vegetation of the Coco Group. [No. 4, 



there, and the Gyrocarptos is rather uncommon. The Mimusops too, is 

 not so abundant on the drier ground. The Pandanus, however, espe- 

 cially on the western side of the islands, ascends to the tops of the 

 ridges and along with the Gapparis sepiaria occurs Gapparis oxypJiylla 

 (G. tenera, var.), the other common creepers being Lygodium flexuosum, 

 Abrus precatorius, Mezoneuron enneaphyllum, Mucuna pruriens, Thun- 

 hergia laurifoUa, Bioscorea (two species), Galamus (two species) ex- 

 ceedingly abundant and making an almost impassable cane-brake es- 

 pecially on the crests of the ridges ; Pcederia foetida is another common 

 creeper, as also is Modecca cordifolia. The jungle with which these 

 are associated contains, besides the shrubs met with on the lower 

 ground, thickets of Gyclostemon assamicns and other Euphorbiaceous 

 shrubs, Alsodeia hengalensis, Glyptopetalum calocarpum, Grewia (two 

 species), Viplospora singularis, Ficus (several species), etc. On one 

 hill, in Great Coco, there is a limited patch of bamboo-jungle, the 

 species being a Dendrocalamus, probably a variety of B. Stricfus. This 

 species also occurs on Table Island, where flowering specimens were 

 obtained, and at first there seemed to be room for doubt as to whether it 

 might not have been introduced on the lighthouse-island, though certainly 

 it only occurs there in the untouched jungle and no examples exist in the 

 clearing. The presence of the same species, however, in quantity, in the 

 interior of Great Coco, on a hill which it is hardly extravagant to sup- 

 pose had not been before ascended by any one, may be held to dispose 

 finally of the doubt. Among the features of the jungle on exposed sea- 

 slopes that are not grass-clad must be noted the presence in quantity, be- 

 sides the other creepers found on the ridges, of Ipomoea palmata, Ipomoea 

 grandiflora and Gonvolvulus parvijiorus, the latter a particularly charac- 

 teristic species on the west coast. The herbaceous undergrowth consists 

 of Oplismenus compositus, Gyperus elegans, and a few other sedges and 

 grasses in local patches or as stray examples ; in places also occur patches 

 oi. Alocasia fornicata, Galmithe sp. (apparently G. veratrifolia) , Draccena 

 spicata, Desmodium laxiflorum ; in one place nearly in the centre of the 

 island, some plants of TJrena lohata (this species does not occur in the 

 clearings of either island and cannot here be looked upon a weed in- 

 troduced by human agency) ; in the drier parts considerable quantities 

 of Acrostichum appendiculatum ; along the sides of dry torrents a good 

 deal of Adiantum lunulatum ; and in one or two damp, flat spots Gerato- 

 pteris fhalictroides. 



On Table Island the west side has been artificially cleared and it is 

 impossible to say that it ever has been jungle-covered, but several of the 

 headlands on the west side of the Great Coco, as has already been men- 

 tioned, have naturally bare grassy slopes. There are none of these. 



