Cocos • On the northwest peninsula north of the channel many trees 
of Pandanus were found along with excavated taro pits some of which were 1 
m. deep. Little humus was found in the bottom and some of the weedy 
grasses and Fimbristylis had colonized these relatively mesic sites. 
Many of the pits were dry. 
The following seem to be naturalizing under the Cocos groves: 
Cenchrus echinatus and Portulaca oleracea. Digitaria is found along the 
overgrown paths along the north and south sides. On the lagoon side of 
the southwest island and the northwest hook are wide mud flats. On the 
southwest these flats are rimmed with Scaevola - Tournefortia and clumps 
of Lepturus in occasional sandy areas. On the northwest flat is found 
a mat of Sesuvium . The same type of mat is found at the edge of the small 
bay which penetrates the northwest peninsula. These filled areas are 
slowly being built up with reef mud and debris deposited by the flow of 
water through the west channel from the opening on the south. Sesuvium 
probably accelerates the process by the addition of humus to the parent 
material. No Sesuvium is found on the flat on the southwest due to the 
almost entire covering of that area at high tide. The lagoon near the 
village has a growth of Turbinaria in the soft mud. 
The soils of Gardner Island are very young judging from the weak 
profiles. Coral sand and rubble are never more than .5 m. from the 
surface layers which are usually thin, sandy soils with humus and thin 
litter layers. The thickest soils were found under the scattered 
Pisonia trees. The litter layer was thick in such areas but no evidence 
of the formation of a phosphatized hardpan was seen. The grove on the 
northwest was not investigated. The Cocos groves had thin soils with 
dark humus found between and under coral rubble on the surface. Only 
a few Red-footed Boobies were seen in the Pisonia trees. The east half 
of both the north and south rims are often bare coralline hardpan. 
Euphorbia cyathophora was naturalized on the south side in open areas 
dominated by Boerhavia and Sida . Only one patch of Tribulus was found 
on a flat, elevated coralline hardpan just above the lagoon on the north 
side. At the extreme east end of the island is a saline pool surrounded 
with wave deposited coral gravel covered with Scaevola - Tournefortia 
scrub. This probably indicates a recent closure of the lagoon on the 
eastern end. Ipomoea tuba and Triumfetta procumbens are common there. 
