194 VEGETATION 



may be seen approximately by referring to the list of our collections. The 

 large proportion of genera in comparison with the number of species has 

 already been called attention to by Mrs. Forthrop. The number of families 

 represented by only one genus is also much larger than in more northern 

 countries. 



With the exception of the Algce, the lower plants have been given little 

 attention by collectors. The Myxomycetes listed in this report are the first 

 ever collected from the Islands. Most of them were found during a search of 

 an hour on Mangrove Cay, Andros, and there is no doubt that many others 

 might be brought to light by a more careful examination. Of the nineteen 

 Fungi here reported, four were previously collected by ITorthrop and Hitch- 

 cock. Northrop speaks of the scarcity both of Fungi and Lichens, but, accord- 

 ing to our observations. Fungi were not at all imcommon and Lichens were 

 exceedingly abundant. The latter encrust the bark of most shrubs and trees, 

 even in the mangrove growth along the coast. Of the forty Lichens collected 

 by us, one (Blodgettia confervoides Harv.) is marine and its exact position is 

 not definitely established. Of the AlgcEj seventeen of the forty-five collected had 

 been previously reported by Northrop, or by Gardner, Brace and Dolley. 

 Agardh has also described a number of Bahama Algce in various papers, and 

 some have been included in other works. Dr. M. A. Howe, of the New York 

 Botanical Garden, has visited the Bahamas since our return and made extensive 

 collections of Algce on New Providence and several of the smaller northern 

 islands. The eight liverworts of our list are all new to the Islands, none having 

 been found before. Mrs. Northrop includes six mosses in her report, and 

 these, with our two additional ones, make up the meager list of known Bahama 

 forms. 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE BAHAMA FLORA. 

 Both Hitchcock and Northrop have discussed the relationship of the 

 Bahama flora to that of other countries, and each has given tables showing 

 the distribution of the plants collected by them in a number of the West Indies 

 and on the American continent. I have arranged the following table of 795 

 plants, comprising, in addition to my own, those reported by Hitchcock, 

 Northrop, Grisebach, Urban, and Herrick, together with additional ones in 

 the yet unpublished lists of Curtiss, Britton and Millspaugh. 



