The Flora of Lord Howe Island. 
BY 
W. BOTTING HEMSLEY, F.R.S., F.L.S., 
Principal Assistant in the Herbarium , Royal Gardens, Kcw. 
Introduction. 
L ORD Howe Island is one of the most singular, most 
* beautiful, and most interesting islands in the world ; 
interesting alike on account of its position, its conformation, 
and its vegetation. It is situated in 31 0 30' S. lat. and 159° 
E. long., and it is about 300 miles from Port Macquarie, New 
South Wales. It was discovered by Lieut. Henry Lidgbird 
Ball, Commander of the Supply , in 1788, when on a voyage 
from Port Jackson to Norfolk Island, for the purpose of 
founding a convict settlement there, under the governorship 
of Lieutenant King. It was named after Lord Howe, the 
First Lord of the Admiralty at the time ; and on the return 
voyage it was surveyed, the results being published in 
Phillip’s and Hunter’s accounts of the establishment of the 
colonies at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island. There are 
also some references to Howe Island in Surgeon- General 
White’s journal, which contains so much about the natural 
history of Port Jackson ; but, strange to say, the only state- 
ment with regard to the vegetation is that the island was 
very barren. 
There is a chart and a view of the island in Governor 
1 The same name was given to a group of islands to the north-east of the 
Solomon Islands by Captain Hunter, and to one of the islands in the Society group 
by Captain Wallis. 
[Annals of Botany, Vol. X. No. XXXVIII. June, 1896.] 
Q 
