CHAP. XIX.] 



THE MADAGASCAK GKOUP. 



415 



remains of the aboriginal woodlands only linger in the recesses 

 of the hills, and numbers of. forest-haunting plants must in- 

 evitably 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 

 species. In the Seychelles, too, the indigenous flora has been 

 almost entirely destroyed in most of the islands, although the 

 peculiar palms, from their longevity and comparative hardiness, 

 have survived. Mr. Geoffrey Nevill tells us, that at Mahe, and 

 most of the other islands visited by him, it was only in a few 

 spots near the summits of the hills that he could perceive any 

 remains of the ancient flora. Pine-apples, cinnamon, bamboos, 

 and other plants, have obtained a firm footing, covering large 

 tracts of country and killing the more delicate native flowers 

 and ferns. The pine-apple, especially, grows almost to the tops 

 of the mountains. Where the timber and shrubs have been 

 destroyed, the water falling on the surface immediately cuts 

 channels, runs off rapidly, and causes the land to become dry 

 and arid ] and the same effect is largely seen both in Mauritius, 



Lomatopbyllum (Liliaceje) 3 sp., slimbs (succulent), Mauritius, also 



Bourbon. 



Lodoicea (PalmaB) 1 sp., tree, Seycbelles. 



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



also Bourbon. 



Hyopborbe ,, 3 sp., trees, Mauritius (2 sp.), Piodriguez, 



also Bourbon. 



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



Bourbon. 



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



Deckenia „ 1 sp., tree, Seychelles. 



Nephrosperma ,, 1 sp,, tree, Seychelles. 



Roscheria 1 sp., tree, Seychelles. 



VerschafEeltia ,, 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 

 shrabs 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, offering a singular analogy to the peculiar snake also found there. 



