324 



ISLAND LIFE 



thousand feet elevation ; while Viola, Drosera, Acsena, 

 Lobelia, Edwardsia, Dodongea, Lycopodium, and many 

 Compositae, range above six thousand feet. Vaccinium 

 and Silene are very interesting, as they are almost peculiar 

 to the North Temperate zone ; while many plants allied 

 to Antarctic species are found in the bogs of the high 

 plateaux. 



The proportionate abundance of the different families 

 in this interesting flora is as follows : — 



1. Compositse 70 species. 



2. Lobeliaceae 58 



3. Graminacese 57 



4. Rubiacese 49 



5. Cyperacese 47 



6. Labiatse 39 



7. Rutacese 80 



8. Gesneriaceffi 24 



9. Caryophyllacese 23 



10. Leguminosse 21 



11. PiperacBie 20 



12. Urticacese 16 species. 



13. Malvaceae 14 ,, 



14. Convolvulacese 14 ,, 



15. Araliaceae 12 ,, 



16. Solanacese 12 ,, 



17 Euphorbiacese 12 ,, 



18. Pittosporacese 10 ,, 



19. Amarantacese 9 ., 



20. Yiolacese 8 ,, 



21. Goodeniaceae 8 ,, 



Nine other orders, Geraniacese, Rhamnaceae, RosacesG, 

 Myrtaceae, Primulacese, Loganiaceae, Liliaceae, Thymelaceae, 

 and Cucurbitaceae, have six or seven species each ; and 

 among the more important orders which have less than 

 five species each are Ranunculaceae, Cruciferae, Vaccinaceae, 

 Apocynaceae, Boraginaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Polygonaceae, 

 Orchidaceae, and Juncaceae. The most remarkable feature 

 here is the great abundance of Lobeliaceae, a character of 

 the flora which is probably unique ; while the superiority 

 of Labiatae to Leguminosae and the scarcity of Rosaceae 

 and Orchidaceae are also very unusual. Composites, as in 

 most temperate floras, stand at the head of the list, and it 

 will be interesting to note the affinities which they indi- 

 cate. Omitting eleven species which are cosmopolitan, 

 and have no doubt entered with civilised man, there re- 

 main nineteen genera and seventy species of Compositae 

 in the islands. Sixty-one of the species are peculiar, as 

 are eight of the genera ; while the genus Lipochaeta with 

 eleven species is only known elsewhere in the Galapagos, 

 where a single species occurs. We may therefore consider 

 that nine out of the nineteen genera of Hawaiian Com- 



