1876.] The Flora of Guadalupe Island. 227 
the Central Mexican genus to which it is provisionally referred, 
than to the genus Livistona of Australia. A congener of the 
Guadalupe species has recently been detected by Dr. Palmer in 
the cañons of the Tantillas Mountains, near San Diego. . . . 
As respects the cryptogamic vegetation, of the half a dozen 
ferns, all are frequent in California, one peculiar to the southern 
part of the State, another found throughout North America and 
Europe. Of the eleven mosses, two are strictly Californian 
species, seven are common everywhere in the United States and 
Europe, and two are European species which had not previously 
been detected in America. Of the four Hepaticc, three are Cali- 
fornian and one is considered new. 
Reference should be made to the plants which by their abun- 
dance and prominence give character to the vegetation. Among 
these the « sage-brush ” and “ grease-woods ” of the valleys of 
the basin are duly represented by an Artemisia and an Atriplex, 
which share with a Franseria in covering large tracts, and in pro- 
tecting the soil and the smaller annuals from the winds and sun. 
Trees are numerous over much of the island, chiefly coniferous : 
a pine, belonging to a Southern Californian species, but peculiar 
n some of its characters ; a juniper, common in California ; a 
cypress, similar to and perhaps identical with a Mexican species 
which extends into California ; and a small oak, which is common 
throughout the State. To these is to be added the palm, which 
ìs frequent in the southern cajions, growing to a height of forty 
feet, and bearing large clusters of edible fruit. 
To conclude, it is apparent, from all that has been said, that this 
little flora as a whole is to be considered a part of that of Cali- 
fornia, as distinct from the flora of Mexico. It may be inferred 
also that it has not been to any great extent derived from Cali- 
fornia by any existing process of conveyance and selection, but 
that it is rather indigenous to its present locality. Moreover, 
while it would indicate a connection at some period between the 
island and the main-land to the north, yet the number and char- 
acter of the peculiar species favor the opinion that they are rather 
à remnant of a flora similar to that of California, which once ex- 
tended in this direction considerably to the southward of what is 
now the limit of that flora upon the main-land. And, finally, the 
Presence of so many South American types suggests the conject- 
are that this, and the similar element which characterizes the 
flora of California, may be due to some other connection between 
these distant regions than any which now exists, and even that 
