CHAP. XIX.] 
THE MADAGASCAR GROUP. 
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, 
Lomatophyllum 
(Liliaceas) ... 
....3 sp., shrubs (succulent), Mauritius, also 
Bourbon. 
Lodoicea 
(Palmae) 
1 sp., tree, Seychelles. 
Latania 

....3 sp., trees, Mauritius (2 sp.), Rodriguez, 
also Bourbon. 
Hyophorbe 
” 
....3 sp., trees, Mauritius (2 sp.), Rodriguez, 
also Bourbon. 
Dictyosperma 
- 
....1 sp., tree, Mauritius, Rodriguez, also 
Bourbon. 
Acanthophaenix 
)1 
....2 sp., trees, Mauritius, also Bourbon. 
Deckenia 

....1 sp., tree, Seychelles. 
Nephrosperma 
)) • • • • • 
....1 sp., tree, Seychelles. 
Roscheria 
)> 
....1 sp., tree, Seychelles. 
Verschaffeltia 
V 
....1 sp., tree, Seychelles. 
Stevensonia 
9 ) 
....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 
shrubs 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. 
