444 



ISLAND LIFE 



PART II 



Fragmentary Character of tine Mascarene Flora. — 

 Although the peculiar character and affinities of the 

 vegetation of these islands is sufficiently apparent, there 

 can be little doubt that we only possess a fragment of the 

 rich flora which once adorned them. The cultivation of 

 sugar, and other tropical products, has led to the clearing 

 away of the virgin forests from all the lowlands, plateaus, 

 and accessible slopes of the mountains, so that remains of 

 the aboriginal woodlands only linger in the recesses of the 

 hills, and numbers of forest-haunting plants must inevit- 

 ably have been exterminated. The result is, that nearly three 

 hundred species of foreign plants have run wild in Mauritius, 

 and have in their turn helped to extinguish the native 



Fanjasia (Compositse) 3 sp., shrubs, Mauritius, also Bourbon and Mada- 

 gascar. 



HeterochjEnia (Canipanulacese) 1 sp., a shrub, Maiiritius, also Bourbon. 



Tanulepis (Asclepiadacese) 1 sp., a climber, Rodriguez. 



Decanema ,, 1 sp., a climber, Mauritius, also Madagascar. 



Nicodemia (Loganiacese) 2 sp., shrubs, Mauritius (1 sp.), also Comoro Islands 



and Madagascar. 



Bryodes (Scrophulariaceae) 1 sp., herb, Mauritius. 



Radamaea ,, 2 sp., herb, Seychelles (1 sp.), and Madagascar. 



Colea (Bignoniaceae) 10 sp., Mauritius (1 sp.), Seychelles (1 sp.), also 



Bourbon and Madagascar. (Shrubs, trees, or 



climbers.) 



Obetia (Urticacese) 2 sp., shrubs, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Mada- 

 gascar. 



Bosquiea (Morese) 3 sp., trees, Seychelles (1 sp.), also Madagascar. 



Monimia (Monimiacese) 3 sp., trees, Mauritius (2 sp.), also Bourbon. 



Cynorchis (Orchidese) 3 sp., herb, ter., Mauritius. 



Amphorchis ,, 1 sp. , herb, ter. , Mauritius, also Bourbon. 



Arnottia ,, 2 sp., herb, ter., Mauritius, also Bourbon. 



Aplostellis ,, 1 sp., herb, ter., Mauritius. 



Cryptopus ,, 1 sp., herb. Epiphyte, Mauritius, also Bourbon and 



Madagascar. 



Lomatophyllum (Liliaceae) 3 sp., shrubs (succulent), Mauritius, also Bourbon. 



Lodoicea (Palmse) 1 sp-, tree, Seychelles. 



Latania 3 sp., trees, Mauritius (2 sp.), Rodriguez, also 



Bourbon. 



Hyophorbe ,, 3 sp., trees, Mauritius (2 sp.), Rodriguez, also 



Bourbon. 



Dictyosperma ,, 1 sp., tree, Mauritius, Rodriguez, also Bourbon. 



Acanthophaenix ,, 2 sp., trees, Mauritius, also Bourbon. 



Deckenia ,, ^ sp., tree, Seychelles. 



Nephrosperma ,, 1 sp., tree, Seychelles. 



Roscheria ,, 1 sp., tree, Seychelles. 



Verschaffeltia , 1 sp., tree, Seychelles. 



Stevensonia ,, 1 sp., tree, Seychelles. 



Ochropteris (Filices) 1 sp., herb, Mauritius, also Bourbon and Madagascar. 



Among the curious features in this list are the great number of endemic 

 shrubs in Mauritius, and the remarkable assemblage of five endemic genera 

 of palms in the Seychelles Islands. We may also notice that one palm 

 {Latania loddigesii) is confined to Round Island and two other adjacent 

 islets, off'eriug a singular analogy to the peculiar snake also found there. 



