VEGETATION OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS 



BY 



WILLIAM C. COKER, Ph. D., 



Associate Professor of Botany in the University of North Carolina. 



INTRODUCTION. 



With the exception of New Providence, the numerous islands of the Ba- 

 hama group lie outside the usual routes of tropical travel, and access to them 

 can be had ordinarily only through the use of small schooners. The compara- 

 tive insignificance of the Bahamas in their trade relations has intensified this 

 isolation and resulted in their remaining in large measure, as terra incognita 

 to the rest of the world. It is a strange commentary on the mutations of 

 time, that on that very island where Columbus first set foot and praised his 

 God for so fair a landing, there has been placed a lighthouse with but the 

 single purpose of warning the mariner from its lonely shores. 



In the hope of adding somewhat to our rather meager knowledge of these 

 Islands, and of bringing into more accessible form the scattered observations 

 of others, the Geographical Society of Baltimore, in the summer of 1903, 

 organized an Expedition for the purpose of their exploration. I, with my two 

 assistants, Mr. C. A. Shore and Mr. F. M. Hanes, was given charge of the 

 botanical side, and this report is the result of observations and collections made 

 during the voyage. As an apology for many deficiencies, I would call atten- 

 tion to the limited time at our disposal, and to the extreme difficulty of drying 

 and preserving plants on the decks of a schooner generally exposed to a stiff 

 breeze. Except in the town of Nassau, where we secured a working room for . 

 several days, the plants had to be brought to the boat and there pressed, 

 labelled, and stowed away. On account of the salt air and frequent rains 

 constant attention was necessary to prevent the decay of our specimens. 

 Wherever possible notes were made on the spot, and it is from these that most 

 of my descriptions are taken. 



A large part of our time was consumed in sailing from port to port, or 

 rather from point to point, as there are few protected harbors in the Islands; 



