88 PLANTS, SEEDS, AND CURRENTS 



Tabulated Results of the Preceding Table 





Total 



Distribution 



Fitted for dis- 

 persal by the 



Main Equato- 

 rial Current 



Eemarks 







New 

 World 

 only 



Old and 



New 

 Worlds 



New 

 World 

 only 



Old and 



New 

 Worlds 





Mangroves and associates 

 Estuarine plants . 



6 

 6 



5 



6 

 1 



1 



5 



The incapacity of 

 Drepanocarpus is only 



Plants of inland 

 wooded districts grow- 

 ing at times at the river - 



12 



6 



6 



1 



5 





Beach plants ranging 

 through tropical and 

 subtropical regions . 



16 





16 





16 





Beach plants confined 

 to the New World and 

 West Africa .... 



3 





3 





2 





Beach plants confined 

 to the New World . 



10 



10 





3 





The number could be 

 considerably extended, 

 if buoyancy data were 

 available. [See previous 

 Explanatory Note (d).] 



1 53 



21 



32 



5 



28 





Summary of the above tabulated results. 



Of the 53 plants, 32, or 60 per cent., occur in both Worlds, and 33, or 62 per 

 cent., respond to the current test in their fitness for transport by the Main 

 Equatorial Current. 



Of the 32 plants occurring in both Worlds, 28, or 88 per cent., respond to this 

 test; but only 24 per cent. (5 out of 21) do so of those confined to the New World, 

 a proportion that doubtless would be considerably lessened if more buoyancy data 

 were available. 



The plants that are exceptions to the rules. 



The three plants that occur on opposite sides of the tropical Atlantic but could 

 not be floated across the ocean are Andira inermis, Ecastaphyllum brownei, and 

 Symphonia globulifera. Possibly a fourth would be Drepanocarpus lunatus. 



The five that are restricted to the New World, yet are able to cross the Atlantic 

 between West Africa and Brazil, are Hippomane mancinella, Morinda royoc, 

 Sacoglottis amazonica, Sapindus saponaria, and Tournefortia gnaphalodes. 



The Test of Capacity for Dispersal by Currents. — There 

 are presented in the above table fifty-three West Indian plants of 

 which thirty-two, or 60 per cent., are found outside the New World, 

 and in nearly all cases on the shores and in the estuaries of tropical 

 West Africa. Of these Old World plants all but four, or 88 per cent., 

 give an affirmative reply when interrogated as to the fitness of their 



