CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE GRAY HERBARIUM OF HARVARD 
UNIVERSITY, NEW SERIES, NO. XXIV. 
By B. L. Roxprnson. 
Presented January 8, 1902. Received May 20, 1902. 
FLORA OF THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS. 
THE peculiar character of the vegetation on the Galapagos Islands was 
brought to scientific attention in 1847 by Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker. 
His flora of the archipelago, based chiefly upon the collections of Charles 
Darwin, showed clearly that these islands, although small in extent, 
volcanic in character, and only five hundred to six hundred miles from 
Kcuador, possess a vegetation striking in individuality and very unlike that 
of the adjacent mainland. Darwin, who visited the Galapagos on the 
memorable voyage of the “ Beagle,” landed on four of the islands 
(Chatham, Charles, James, and Albemarle). He was able to spend 
only a few days upon each, and naturally much of his attention was 
devoted to the general topography, the geology, and especially the 
peculiar fauna; moreover the season was one of drought; yet he was 
able to collect 201 different plants. These, supplemented by smaller 
collections (chiefly those of Douglas & Scouler, Macrae, and Edmon- 
ston), enabled Hooker to include in his enumeration 239 species, of which 
no less than 107 were described as new to science, thus indicating an 
extraordinary endemic element of nearly forty-five per cent of the whole 
flora of the islands, a proportion which became still more remarkable 
when the imperfectly represented thallophytes, and certain phanerogams, 
believed to be artificially introduced weeds, were omitted from con- 
sideration. 
In 1852 Prof. N. J. Andersson, well known for his critical studies in 
_ Salix, visited the Galapagos Islands on a voyage of the Swedish frigate 
“ Eugenie.” He landed upon five of the islands, four of them being the 
same as those visited by Darwin, and the fifth (Indefatigable) until then 
entirely unknown botanically. The sailing schedule of his vessel per- 
mitted him to remain but a few hours upon some of the islands, and 
upon none more than two or three days. Nevertheless, he was able to 
secure an excellent collection of plants, including 338 numbers, many 
