OF THE MALDIVE ISLANDS. 
151 
rather than in the reverse direction or from Ceylon. Of the 
12 species n ot known from the Laccadives, 1 1 occur all round 
the Indian and Malayan Coasts, and may have travelled by 
land, while the remaining one, Pemphis acidula, has pro- 
bably been derived from Malaya by the currents of the north- 
east monsoon bringing it to the Coromandel Coast. The 
Laccadives, on the other hand, have Tournefortia argentea, 
Hernandia peltata, Thuarea sæmentosa, Lepturus repens, 
which do not occur on the Malabar Coast, nor indeed in India 
at all. 
Many of the Malayan and Seychellan forms are abundant 
in the Maidive Islands, but rare in Ceylon, showing that the 
main track of distribution passes south of Ceylon. Such 
are Suriana, Guettarda, Ochrosia, Cordia, Tournefortia, 
Ipomœa denticulata, Lepturus repens. 
Forms whose Mode of Introduction is uncertain. 
There still remain upon the list the following forms 
whose presence has to be accounted for. After each name 
are placed letters indicating in order of probability the 
agencies by which means it may have reached the islands. 
Species probably introduced for cultivation are marked C, 
those unintentionally introduced by man M, those probably 
brought by sea currents S, those by birds B, those by 
wind W : — 
Tinospora cordifolia, M, C 
Brassica juncea, C, M 
Portulaca tuberosa, B, S 
oleracea, B, S, M 
quadrifida, M, B 
Sida carpinifolia, B, M 
( diffusa), B, S, M 
(Urena sinuata). B, M 
Hibiscus Abelmoschus, C, M 
Adansonia digitata, C, S 
Corchorus capsularis, C, M 
(Triumfetta procumbens), M, B, S 
Triphasia trifoliata, C, M, B 
Zizyphus Jujuba, C, M, B 
sp. ? M, C 
Colubrina asiatica,' B, S 
Vitis Linnæi, B, C, M 
CardiospermumHelicacabum, S, M 
Allophylus Cobbe, C, B 
Indigofera tinctoria, C, M 
Tephrosia tenuis, M, S 
purpurea, M, S 
(Sesbania aculeata), M, S 
Desmodium umbellatum, M, S 
gangeticum, M, S 
triflorum, M, S, B 
