328 Part III. Chapter 4. 
Bahama Islands. The flora of the Bahaman islands shows a larger contingent 
of southern plants on account of the greater similarity of the climate, and 
because the prevailing winds and currents are from that direction. Taking 
the larger islands of New Providence and Andros, the total number of plants, 
exclusive of cultivated and escaped plants found on these islands is 453 species, 
according to ALICE R. NORTHROP of which are reported 176 species from 
other islands of the group, 335 from Cuba, 250 from south Florida, 108 from 
southern United States, 286 from Jamaica, ıgo from Virgin Islands, 223 from 
Windward islands, 197 from Mexico and Central America and 199 from South 
America. Of the 453 species mentioned above, 76 are widely distributed, 
being common in warm countries on both continents. 
The recent work of the botanists of the New York Botanic Garden and 
that ofthe scientists ofthe expedition of the Geographical Society of Baltimore 
have enlarged our knowledge of the flora of the Bahama Islands, so that the 
figures given above are true for the two larger islands and only approximately 
so. COKER'), the botanist of the expedition of the Baltimore Geographical 
Society has tabulated the results obtained by himself and others also the 
unpublished results of CURTISS, BRITTON and MILLSPAUGH. 
He shows that of the 795 flowering plants and ferns indigenous to the 
Bahama Islands, 536 are common to that group and Cuba; 311 are common 
to the Bahamas, Mexico and Central America; 282 are common to the Bahamas 
and South America; 322 common to these islands and Florida; ı70 common 
to the southern United States and the Bahama group and 55 species peculiar 
to the Bahama islands. It is evident that a study of the Bahama flora does 
not furnish any proof either for or against land connections either between 
Cuba on the one side, or Florida on the other, which we have assumed 
elsewhere to have been the case. At this point, it may be well to disclaim 
any intention on the part of the writer to emphasize that the migration of 
plants into newly elevated land has always been by means of land connections, 
or bridges. Ocean currents, winds, birds, and other agencies have been active, 
but on the other hand, a land connection emphasizes the probable continuity 
of a particular flora and also provides a way by which plants can enter new 
land areas raised from the ocean. 
The majority of the plants common to the Bahamas and to the southern 
United States, extend also into other tropic countries, and it seems probable, 
that these more widely distributed species have Hirades both the Bahamas and 
Florida from the south, namely from the larger islands which represent fragments 
of a formerly existing Caribbean landmass covered by the original American 
tropic flora. Of the 492 plants common to the Bahamas and the United States, 
there are 40 that are found only in these two regions. 
In discussing the relationship of the ringe flora, it is important not to 
1) COKER, WILLIAM C.: Vegetation ofthe Bahama Islands. The Bahama Islands 1905: 194-201 
Published under the auspices of the Geographical Socjety of Baltimore. 
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