XII, c. 4 Brown, Merrill and Yates: Volcano Island 187 
previous to 1913 were made from a distance of many kilometers, 
whereas in our experience we have found that even at a distance 
of less than a kilometer it is impossible to tell whether or not 
small tufts of grass or other small plants are present on an area. 
When Gates visited the island in April, 1914, the vegetation 
had spread over a much larger area than it occupied in 1913. 
Most of the land on the part of the island north of the main 
crater supported plants, while vegetation had spread over the 
whole southwestern peninsula as far as the top of Mount Saluyan. 
A narrow strip of vegetation had also appeared along the eastern 
coast. In the area invaded between October, 1913, and April, 
1914, the vegetation was apparently very sparse on the latter 
date. Vegetation was also still scarce on much of the land that 
supported plants in 1913. 
GRASSES 
Until now (January, 1917) by far the most prominent invading 
species has been Saccharum spontaneum (talahib), which is 
scattered all over the island. In a few limited areas in the north- 
ern part it forms dense stands. Elsewhere it occurs as scattered 
clumps. On the lower gentle slopes these clumps are fairly large 
and well developed. In very favorable situations in the Phil- 
ippines Saccharum may reach a height of 4.5 meters, but on 
Volcano Island it does not attain this size, being rarely more 
than 3 meters in height. Where it occurs as scattered clumps, 
it is even smaller than this. Except in very limited areas it 
is easily possible to walk between the individual clumps, and in 
most places the distance between clumps is considerably greater 
than the height of the grass. Plate VIII, fig. 2, is from a pho- 
tograph taken near the shore, west of a point between the two 
old craters on the western side of the island. It gives a good 
idea of the average development of Saccharum. On the steep 
slopes of the main cone and Mount Tabaro, in the dry stream 
beds, and on the deltal fans Saccharum appears only as scattered, 
dwarfed tufts, which owing to the rapid erosion lead a very 
precarious existence. Plate XIV, fig. 1, shows a wide deltal fan 
with a narrow stream bed extending through it. These fans are 
almost devoid of vegetation. Over long stretches in the central 
and southern part of the island there is very little conspicuous 
vegetation other than Saccharum. 
Near the coast in some of the open places between the widely 
separated clumps of Saccharum there are various scattered plants 
of small grasses and sedges. The most conspicuous of these 
