292 PLANTS, SEEDS, AND CURRENTS 



West Indian region but also in the Old World possess this capacity, 

 the others being mostly small-seeded plants, where the seeds are 

 non-buoyant. In the case of the shore plants confined to the New 

 World there are only four that could be transported over great 

 distances by the direct agency of the currents, namely, Ipomoea tuba, 

 Salicornia ambigua, Batis maritima, and Tournefortia gnaphalodes ; 

 and it is remarkable that in the first two plants their restriction to 

 the New World is disputed, their fitness for trans-oceanic dispersal 

 making a silent appeal against the narrower view of their range. 

 For the other plants we have to invoke a variety of agencies, such 

 as birds in different ways, floating logs, pumice, and man. 



Of the capacity for dispersal by currents possessed by the plants 

 of the scrub in the interior of the islands I have very few direct data. 

 The few that were in immature seed gave little promise of such a 

 capacity ; but from my extended experience of the buoyant behaviour 

 of seeds it may be inferred that as in other localities the inland plants 

 have in the mass been brought here by other means. Neither the 

 grasses nor the sedges would, it is probable, have been aided in this 

 way, and doubtless they have often been brought by birds. It is 

 most likely that frugivorous birds would account for the presence 

 of Lantana involucrata, Melocactus communis, and Pithecolobium ; 

 whilst the small seeds or seed-like fruits of the other plants are 

 probably indebted for their presence here to granivorous birds. 

 The species of Corny ositce (Baccharis dioica and Pluchea) may possibly 

 have been aided by the strong winds, their fruits being provided 

 with a pappus. I have no data relating to the genus Phyllanihus, 

 of which two species (P. epiphyllanthus, L., and P. niruri y L.) are 

 known from the islands (Millspaugh's Prcenunc. Baham.). 



(Particulars of the works quoted in this chapter will be found in 

 the list of references at the beginning of this volume.) 



Summary 



1. The vegetation of the Turks Islands, apart from the littoral 

 plants, is generally sparse and of the scrub type, the soil being 

 usually sandy. 



2. Beginning with the smaller cays, they are described as mainly 

 occupied by West Indian strand plants, the true scrub-land species 

 presenting themselves in the larger islands. Amongst the islands, 

 Greater Sand Cay is regarded as of special interest, since it is the 

 first to catch the floating drift and illustrates a stage in the plant- 

 stocking intermediate between that indicated in the small cay a 

 few hundred yards in length and that exemplified in Grand Turk, 

 which is five to six miles long (p. 278). 



3. After referring to the work of American botanists (p. 283), the 

 plants of Grand Turk are dealt with more in detail. Its flora derives 

 its Bahamian impress from the plants of the inland scrub, and its 

 general West Indian impress chiefly from the plants of the strand 

 (p. 284). 



4. Having described the topography of the island (p. 284),the author 

 deals with the scrub vegetation, first of the inland sandy plains 



