428 PLANTS, SEEDS, AND CURRENTS 



Questions of modes of dispersal seem hardly pertinent in the case 

 of a plant that like this species is restricted to a single group of 

 islands. The seeds are smooth, 0-75 mm. long, and they sink in 

 sea-water. They appear as well fitted for wide dispersal as those 

 of a multitude of small- seeded plants with great ranges. The history 

 of this species probably carries us back to an early stage in the plant- 

 stocking of the Azores. Watson writes (p. 189) that each group of 

 Atlantic islands (Azores, Madeira, Canaries, Cape Verdes) has its 

 peculiar Campanula, the Madeiran and Canarian plants affording 

 technical characters for generic distinction, whilst that of the Azores 

 is " a true Campanula, though with the habit of a shrubby Semper- 

 vivum." A clue to the parentage of the Azorean species may perhaps 

 be found in the form of the first leaves. Whilst the typical leaves 

 are long, lanceolate-spathulate, and serrate, the cotyledons are entire, 

 broad, and almost deltoid. The first leaf is similarly broad, 

 but subcordate at the base, and fringed with long hyaline 

 hairs. The serrations begin to develop in the second leaf, which 

 is ovate in form. The transparent hairs disappear after the fourth 

 leaf, which is broadly oval and deeply notched. The succeeding 

 leaves rapidly assume the characteristic lanceolate-spathulate form 

 which is acquired in the sixth or seventh leaf. 



Daphne laureola, L. — The " Trovisco " of the Azoreans. Only 

 recorded from Pico. Though Seubert, whose notes were supplied 

 by the Hochstetters (1838), mentions no other island, Drouet who 

 visited the group in 1857 was assured that there was formerly much 

 of it in the valley of Furnas, San Miguel. It is highly probable 

 that it grows on San Jorge. I found it in flower-bud in the end of 

 March and beginning of April 1913, and in early green fruit in the 

 first half of July 1914. Evidently it flowers in May. Grows on 

 Pico at levels between 3000 and 5000 feet. According to Hochstetter 

 it is found at elevations of 3000 to 4000 feet. Watson observed it 

 " probably between 4000 and 5000 feet " (Lond. Journ. Bot, 1843). 



Dicksonia culcita, Herit. — On Pico it grows at altitudes of 2000 

 to 4500 feet. Hochstetter places it in the zone of the upper mountain 

 woods, 2500 to 4500 feet. In San Miguel it reaches the tops of two of 

 the principal mountains, Pico da Vara, 3570 feet, the highest peak 

 in the island, and Agua de Pao, 3070 feet. 



Erica azorica, Hochst. — Flowers in May and June. When men 

 or cattle brush against the branches in June dense clouds of pollen 

 are given off. Fruits in July and August. Ranges in altitude on 

 Pico from the coast to 6000 feet, but it is much dwarfed in the higher 

 levels, namely, above 4500 feet. Seubert, quoting Hochstetter, 

 states that it ascends this mountain to above 6000 feet. 



Euphorbia azorica, Hochst. — Commencing to flower in the middle 

 of March 1913. 



Euphorbia mellifera, Ait. { = E. stygiana). — Recorded from all 

 islands except Graciosa, San Jorge, Terceira, and Santa Maria, but 

 doubtless it exists or did exist there. According to Seubert it grows 

 in the mountain ravines of Fayal and Flores at elevations of 2000 

 to 3000 feet. On Pico it grows usually between 3000 and 4000 feet. 

 Often grows sporadically, when it may attain a height of eleven or 



