165 



contain more than s/^ tif the real number of species, yet it seemed 

 to be desirable to compare this flora more closely with the plants, 

 mentioned "in my Systematical part. 



Johnston's flora has 157 genera, not including Filices, which are 

 not found on Curagao, Aruba and Bonaire and of these some 

 70 have no representatives at a higher altitude than 300 metres, 

 while about 80 genera are only found above 300 metres. 

 So, if we compare the floras of the four islands we must not 

 include these genera, occurring above 300 metres. 

 Overagainst these 70 genera of the lower parts which were found 

 by Johnston and not by me, we have also some 70 which are 

 found on Curagao, Aruba and Bonaire but not on Margarita. 

 While the flora of Margarita mainly differs from that of the 

 Dutch Leeward Islands by the occurrence of a peculiar flora in 

 the higher parts, it appears that of the 36 wild indigenous Antil- 

 les plants which are also found on Margarita, only 8 occur in 

 the Dutch Islands. So we have 



Dutch Leeward Islands + Margarita 8 



» » » "-" 



Margarita 28 



these numbers being for the South American indigenous plants 



Dutch Leeward Islands -{- Margarita 2 



» » « ^^ 



Margarita 38 



These data prove to some extent that the Dutch Islands have 

 more resemblance to the Antilles and less to South America than 

 Margarita. We refer to what was said on page 129 about the 

 geology of Margarita. As a further peculiarity we mention the 

 very rare occurrence of grasses on Margarita, contrary to Curasao, 

 where many more species are found and where they are not 

 scarce at all. 



Cactaceae cover whole fields in Margarita and this agrees entirely 

 with certain parts of Bonaire; the Bromeliaceae which are so 

 conspicuous on Margarita play a subordinate part in the Dutch 

 W. I. Islands. The typical tropical families like Melastomataceae, 

 Aroideae, Piperaceae are entirely lacking in the Dutch Islands, 

 contrary to Margarita. 



As far as can be inferred from Johnston's descriptions (1. c. p. 

 278 ff.) the vegetation along the sea- coast is similar in type to 



