140 
WILLIS AND GARDINER ; BOTANY 
cosmopolitan types, we find that the weeds are, as a rule, the 
commonest weeds of India and Ceylon. Poygala erioptera 
is the only Maldivian weed not known in Ceylon, hut is 
common in India. There is a considerable direct trade 
between Malé and Calcutta, to which is probably due the 
introduction of many Indian weeds. 
Taking Maldives and Laccadives together, the commonest 
and most widely distributed of these weeds are probably Sida 
humilis, Abutilon indicum, Anisomeles ovata, Phyllanthus 
maderaspatensis, P. Niruri, Acalypha indica, A. fallax, and 
Oplismenus compositus, each of which occurs in at least six 
of the seven divisions made above. 
The number of these weeds is greater on the more 
cultivated islands ; their presence is largely dependent on 
cultivation. There are only a few of them on the wilder 
islands where there is less traffic, less cultivated ground, and 
greater competition with other plants. Most of the species 
occur in more than one of the divisions, and are often 
distributed in such a way as to indicate having spread from 
one spot in each archipelago or group. All the Maldivian 
weeds occur in Malé or Goifurfehendu Atolls, with the 
exception of Hewittia bicolor, recorded only from Mahlos. 
The following islands have fairly complete floras, and show 
the following numbers of introduced weeds of this list : 
Male 27 at least. Hulule 13, Hedufuri (S. Mahlos) 16, 
Goifurfehendu Atoll 17, Veimandu (Kolumadulu) 13. 
Species probably introduced by Birds. 
All previous investigations tend to show that the agency 
of birds in providing distant islands with plants is a com- 
paratively unimportant one, so far as number of species is 
concerned. In the case of plants with fleshy fruits, whose 
seeds are afterwards dropped, it is evident that in general 
only islands lying at comparatively short distances can be 
reached, but in the case of fruits or seeds sticking by means 
of hooks or gum, or enclosed in mud pellets attached to the 
