356 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. XXII, July 1968 
Fig. 2. View toward east across the main crater of Manana Island. Sourgrass ( Trichachne insularis ), 
wild tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum ) , and coconut palms ( Cocos nucifera ) are prominent components of the 
vegetation. (Photo by K. Wodzicki, February 29, 1964.) 
Cocos nucifera, some as tall as 8 meters, grew 
on the crater floor, and many of these were 
producing fruit in 1964. 
The vegetation of the outer southwestern 
slopes (Fig. 3) differed from that in the crater. 
The dominant plants were Setaria verticillata 
and Cenchrus echinatus, mostly 0.5 meter or 
less in height. Occasional shrubs of Tepbrosia 
purpurea occurred here, along with several 
plants of Boerhavia diffusa. Scattered clumps of 
Chloris inflata were found also on these slopes; 
Nicotiana tabacum was occasional. Toward the 
lower part of the slopes Atrip lex semibaccata 
was abundant. Two trees of Cocos nucifera grew 
on the western part of these slopes. 
Dactyloctenium aegyptium was restricted to 
the sandy beach at the base of the slopes. One 
tree of Prosopis pallida was growing high up 
in the largest valley on the south side of the 
island. In this same valley were several flower- 
ing plants of Argemone glauca, and seedlings 
of this species were found also on the beach at 
the mouth of the valley. 
One mature shrub and a few seedlings of 
Pluchea odorata were found in soil pockets just 
below the crater rim on the outer southwest 
slopes, and a few plants of Sonchus oleraceus 
grew in soil pockets on the crater rim. 
MAMMALS 
Oryctolagus cuniculus 
The principal resident vertebrate of Manana 
is the European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus 
(L.) . Identification is confirmed by a flat skin 
and skull in the Bishop Museum, collected 
August 27, 1934 by E. H. Bryan, Jr., by two 
fresh specimens collected by State Fish and 
Game personnel on August 31, 1961 and ex- 
amined by K. Wodzicki, and by a series of 
seven museum specimens prepared from material 
collected on the 1964 expedition. 
The population probably has descended from 
one or more importations of mixed domestic 
breeds of several colors. Escaped or planted 
stocks of domestic rabbits sometimes revert in 
coloration to the wild type (Thomsen and 
Evans, 1964), and this is apparently the case 
with the population on Manana. It now re- 
sembles the wild European rabbit, which has 
