areas are overgrown with Scaevola . Laxton (]_95l) mentions the large 
numbers of cocoanut crabs found by the early planters of the l 880 T s 
in spite of the fact that the Cocos grove was very limited. These 
animals appear to be characteristic of islands which do not support 
Cocos groves (e.g., Birnie) as well as those islands with small stands. 
Laxton (l95l) states that the southeastern island rim has buka trees 
"reaching no great size" and that at the eastern tip "buka trees rise 
here sixty feet". No trees of this height were seen in 196 ^ but dry 
scattered Pisonia could be seen along the narrow rim on the southeastern 
side. Cordia is also reported from the eastern tip but this was not 
verified due to the briefness of our visit. 
Gardner Island is characterized by four major plant associations: 
Cocos , Scaevola - Tournefortia , Pisonia and Lepturus - Sida . The 
latter three cover the largest portion of the land area. The Pisonia 
groves are found on the interior mesic sites. In places such as the 
northwest hook where the land is wide, the Pisonia forms a closed 
canopy forest of now limited extent. Along the narrower northeast rim 
the trees are scattered and dry. The Scaevola - Tournefortia forms a 
fringing vegetation on the north and south sides. The Sida - Lepturus 
is found on gravel over coralline hardpan in open areas on the north and 
south sides. Lepturus is often found in pure stands at the edge of the 
lagoon or scattered under Pisonia trees. It is also common in beach 
sand near the fringe of Scaevola - Tournefortia . On the north side the 
latter association forms an open thicketed area almost impenetrable on 
the seaward side but less thick toward the lagoon. Under some of the 
Pisonia trees a considerable amount of humus and litter has accumulated 
over the coral rubble which forms the parent material for soil building. 
These trees are usually found at the top of a ridge of coral rubble. 
On the outside there is beach sand and on the inside a slope of coral 
rubble over coralline hardpan. This hardpan usually extends to the 
lagoon edge and appears to be .3 m. above the water at high tide. 
Unlike Hull Island, the north side of Gardner is unbroken by channels 
which connect the inner lagoon to the sea. Small pools on the east end 
indicate that at one time a channel probably existed at that end of the 
island. Digitaria was found naturalized on the north side and Ipomoea 
tuba was found rooted in coralline hardpan and coral rubble along with 
Fleurya ruderalis and Portulaca lutea . 
Among the introductions during the colonization of the island were: 
Pandanus sp., probably one or more of the scores of cultivars of 
Pandanus tectorius which have been developed in the Gilbert Islands (see 
Luomala, 1953); Digitaria pacifica , a grass which is of common intro¬ 
duction in the Line and Phoenix Islands; Eragrostis tenella , a common 
weed grass; Crinum asiaticum , an ornamental; Portulaca samoensis ; 
Portulaca oleracea ; Euphorbia cyathophora , an ornamental; Euphorbia 
thymifolia ; Pedilanthus tithymaloides , an ornamental; Phyllanthus amarus 
Terminalia catappa and Nicotiana tabacum . 
Morinda citrifolia was present on the island at the time of Maude T s 
visit in 1937 (Maude, 1952). It is probably an earlier introduction but 
it is difficult to pinpoint. The most likely possibility was the early 
copra operation when Cocos were planted since there seems to be no 
record of a permanent settlement shipping copra. The papaya ( Carica 
papaya ) is naturalizing a few local areas in the abandoned village under 
