Dispersal of Herbaceous Angiosperms . 
577 
H. St. Helena. 
The island of St. Helena, in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean, 
also supports a fauna and flora of great antiquity. Wallace refers to its 
primal state, before the advent of man, as (14, p. 308) ‘a kind of natural 
museum or vivarium in which ancient types, perhaps dating back to the 
Miocene period, or even earlier, had been saved from the destruction which 
has overtaken their allies on the great continents \ 
The native flora of the island is now but a fragment of what it was 
before the advent of civilization, and comprises only about 62 species of 
flowering plants (41 Dicotyledons and 21 Monocotyledons), of which 38 are 
endemic. An analysis of the flora is presented in the following table : 
Indigenous species 
Non-endemic species 
Endemic species of non-endemic genera . 
Species of endemic genera 
Total Species. 
Herbs. 
% Herbs . 
4 1 
15 
37 
IT 
8 
73 
22 
8 
7 
32 
The indigenous flora of the island thus comprises but a small percentage 
of herbs, and the endemic element a progressively smaller one. Annual 
herbs compose a large part of the introduced vegetation, but there are no 
indigenous annuals. The most conspicuous element in the endemic flora 
is the Compositae with six genera and ten species. All species are trees 
save one. Other noteworthy plants are a shrubby Lobelia and a shrubby 
Plantago , recalling those of Hawaii, and a shrubby species of Heliotropium . 
The general character of the flora of St. Helena is southern extra-tropical, 
and its present prevailingly woody composition may be taken to indicate 
that the vegetation of the adjacent continental areas during the Tertiary 
was made up for the most part of woody plants. 
I. The Canaries. 
The Canary Islands, 200 miles off the coast of northern Africa, support 
a large flora and one which displays a considerable degree of endemism. 
According to Pitard and Proust there are 1,303 indigenous species of Angio- 
sperms, of which 459 are endemic ; and 39 endemic genera. The growth- 
habit of the plants is not indicated by these authors, but an analysis (of the 
Dicotyledons) made from the earlier work of Webb and Berthelot, although 
based on fewer species, is doubtless very nearly correct. It is presented in 
the following table : 
Indigenous species 
Species of non-endemic genera 
Species of endemic genera 
Species of endemic genera (exclusive of the 
Crassulaceae) 
Total Species. 
Herbs . 
% Herbs. 
783 
526 
67 
653 
492 
75 
130 
34 
26 
67 
6 
9 
The herbaceous percentage of the indigenous vegetation is but little 
