The Botany of Christmas Island. 



The first collection of plants made in Christmas Island 

 was that of the expedition of the Flying Fish under Captain 

 Maclear, in 1886, but a few plants only were then obtained. 

 In 1887, H. M. S. Egeria visited the island and remained ten 

 days during which time Mr. J. J. Lister, naturalist to the ex- 

 pedition, collected plants, animals, and rocks but was unable 

 to penetrate into the centre of the island. The account of the 

 plants obtained on these two expeditions was published by 

 Mr. Hemsley in the Journal of the Linnean Society vol. XXV 

 p 351. They amounted to about 52 specimens of flowering 

 plants, 17 Ferns and Lycopodiaceae, and 8 cellular cryptogams 

 As previous to this time no settlement had ever been made 

 on the island nor any ships except a few whalers, and other 

 vessels touched there, the flora was in its unaltered primitive 

 state and no weeds of cultivation had made their appearance. 

 The collection however was by no means complete even for 

 the area visited, but many of the endemic plants were collected. 



In 1888 (November) Mr. Clunies Ross settled there, 

 and from this period dates the introduction of the weeds 

 and plants generally introduced by human agency. 



In 1890 I visited the island in the gunboat " Redpole " 

 landing at Flying Fish Cove, and spent about 10 hours there, 

 during which time I collected as many plants as I could, in 

 the Cove and up as high as the Plateau. As I was chiefly 

 interested in the indigenous plants at that time I paid less 

 attention to the introduced species, but noted Hibiscus 

 abelmoschus, and Spilanthes acmella neither seen since ; 

 Paspalum sanguinale and Eleusine-indica. An account of this 

 trip was published in the Journal of the Straits Branch of the 

 Asiatic Society, vol. 22, p. 123. 



During their residence the Ross family ^introduced a 

 number of useful and ornamental plants many of which are 

 still to be found in the Settlement and with these a number of 

 weeds must have been introduced. 



J our. Straits Branch 



