252 
ISLAND LIFE. 
[part. II. 
There can be little doubt that the truly indigenous flora of 
the islands is far more scanty than the number of plants recorded 
would imply, because a large but unknown proportion of the 
species are certainly importations, voluntary or involuntary, by 
man. As, however, the general character of the whole flora is 
that of the south-western peninsula of Europe, and as most of 
the introduced plants have come from the same country, it is 
almost impossible now to separate them, and Mr. Watson has 
not attempted to do so. The whole flora contains representatives 
of eighty natural orders and 250 genera ; and even if we suppose 
that one-half the species only are truly indigenous, there will 
still remain a wonderfully rich and varied flora to have been 
carried, by the various natural means above indicated, over 900 
miles of ocean, more especially as the large proportion of species 
identical with those of Europe shows that their introduction 
has been comparatively recent, and that it is, probably (as in the 
case of the birds) still going on. We may therefore feel sure 
that we have here by no means reached the limit of distance 
to which plants can be conveyed by natural means across the 
. ocean ; and this conclusion will be of great value to us in 
investigating other cases where the evidence at our command 
is less complete, and the indications of origin more obscure or 
conflicting. 
Of the forty species which are considered to be peculiar to the 
islands, all are allied to European plants except six, whose nearest 
affinities are in the Canaries or Madeira. Two of the Composite 
are considered to be distinct genera, but in this order generic 
divisions rest on slight technical distinctions ; and the Campa- 
nula vidalii is very distinct from any other known species. With 
these exceptions, most of the peculiar Azorean species are closely 
allied to European plants, and are in several cases little more 
than varieties of them. While therefore we may believe that 
the larger part of the existing flora reached the islands since the 
glacial epoch, a portion of it may be more ancient, as there is 
no doubt that a majority of the species could withstand some 
lowering of temperature ; while in such a warm latitude and 
surrounded with sea, there would always be many sunny and 
sheltered spots in which even tender plants might flourish. 
