236 D. Prain — The non-indigenous species of the Andaman Flora. [No. S, 



in its present form in 1858, but it occupies the site of a settlement that 

 existed for a few years in the end of the 18th century, so that some 

 common weeds may possibly have been already introduced and estab- 

 lished when the present colony was founded. This prevents us from 

 going back without question to the year 1858 as a starting-point in our 

 enquiry ; but, while we are unable to do this, we have nevertheless a 

 quite satisfactory date of commencement in the year 1866, for in that 

 year the late Mr. S. Kurz* paid a botanical visit to the Andamans the 

 results of which are enbodied in a Report on the Vegetation of the 

 Andaman Islam ds.f As an Appendix to this report (pp. 29 — 59) an 

 Enumeration of the Plants on the Andaman Islands is given ; in this 

 enumeration and in a tabular Recapitulation (pp. 22, 23) Mr. Kurz has 

 distinguished the non-indigenous element and dealt separately with its 

 items. The treatment cannot be better explained than it is by Mr. 

 Kurz himself in the following passage taken from his Report (p. 24) : — 



"A considerable number of plants on the Andamans are only in- 

 " troduced, though some of these species in the surrounding countries 

 " are without any hesitation enumerated in their floras as indigenous. 

 " I noted not less than 76 of these introduced species, while in Singa- 

 " pore the numbers are only 31. This great difference, however, is 

 " scarcely a real one, as we can be certain that most plants at the latter 

 "place are introduced only when they are known to be non-Indian 

 " forms. 



" The introduced herbaceous plants on the Andamans are 74 in 

 " number ; thus being in proportion to the woody plants as 37 : 1. Of 

 " these, seven only are American ; which are, therefore, surpassed in 

 " number by nine times the introduced species from the old Continent. 

 "As regards dissemination, the American species supersede the old 

 "Asiatic forms (except grasses), however, in number of individuals. 



'• An enquiry into the causes of the different modes of immigration 

 " of the non-indigenous plants on the Andamans would show that the 

 " whole number has been introduced by the agency of man, direct and 

 "indirect — a fact which also proves how little chauce there is for exotic 

 " plants to cross the sea. I am inclined also to believe that introduction 

 " by means of winds, birds, &c, is applicable only to continents and 

 " adjacent islands, but not to isolated groups of islands. The Andamans 

 " will become an instructive spot for inquiries into the change of a flora 



* Willi elm Sulpiz Kurz, native of Augsburg, Curator of the Herbarium of the 

 Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta, from 1863 till his death in 1878. 



t Calcutta; Office of Superintendent of Government Printing, Ed. 2, 1870: 

 [the first issue, a purely official document of which the edition quoted is a reprint, 

 was circulated by the Government of India in 1867.] 



