east sides. At the time of the present trip Nama -was found island wide, growing 
everywhere from the lagoon edge to the sea's edge. Much young growth was noted on 
the north and east shoresbut whether these small plants will survive without con¬ 
tinuing rainfall for the next several months is unknown. The one Messerschmidia 
tree on the island appeared to be in excellent shape and is making good growth. The 
one Ironwood tree on the island was thriving well with many new needles; the 20 
coconut palms on the island are growing at an excellent rate with the ones on the 
northwest side of the island now reaching a height of up to 15 feet. The tobacco 
plants reach a height of four to five feet. They are flowering and spreading along 
the entire northwest protion of the island. That the rainfall has been great in the 
past months is also borne out by the fact that the lagoon had risen considerably 
over past year's observations to the point of killing out great masses of Sesuvium, 
Cyperus, and Ipomea at the lagoon edges. Since many thousands of Laysan Albatross 
eggs. 
The Eragrostis is very dense and shows excellent growth. Becasue of this, most 
of the photo station stakes could not be located; those that were found are often invisible 
in the pictures due to the height of this grass. The Scaevola has made great growth 
on the inner portions of the island and has filled in many of the vacant spots through¬ 
out the upper rim of the island. Cyperus pennatiformis was located in two 6 to 7 foot 
tall clumps at the extreme southeast tip of the lagoon near the 7 palm trees. This is 
an increase in growth of 3 to 4- feet from the September 1961 trip. In general, such 
vegetation as Cyperus laevigatus, Cynodon dactylon, Boerhaavia, Sesuvium, Tribulus, 
Ipomea, and Fluchea were also growing lushly. Heliotropium curassavicum while 
noted on prior expeditions as being common, was extremely abundant and growing well 
this year. Recorded for the first time on Laysan was Solanum nigrum . Six to eight 
small fruiting plants were found growing among the Ipomea on the southwest side of the 
island between the lagoon edge and old tram tracks. Two different species of Sicyos 
were found on the island, Sicyos hispidus was common in the tobacco patches on the 
northwest side of the island, and Sicyos microcarpus was very common over the entire 
southermhalf of the island, often spreading over Eragrostis clumps and patches of 
Scaevola . One sprouted seed of the soybean plant, Mucuna sp, was found on the north 
beach, but it is extremely doubtful that this plant will survive here. Seeds of this 
species were also found in 1923 but apparently never survived. 
Another member of the Cyperaceae, Fimbrystylus eymosa w as extremely common along 
the inner rim of the island, and was bearing mature seed heads. This species was 
not recorded anywhere in the Leeward chain in 1923, but has been existing on Laysan 
for some years where it is now becoming a prominent member of the vegetative structure. 
An experimental planting of seeds fmn ETihoa was made in a line across the bare 
sand from a point just west of the photo stake #c2(3) up to the edge of the 
Scaevola patch noted in the same photograph (March 1961 ) The three species planted were 
Chenopodium , Solanum , and Sicyos microcarpa ; this last species has now been identified 
as being already resident on Laysan. 
(From unpublished report by Kramer and Beardsley, 1962 ) 
February 11-13, 19^3 Vegetation ; Even though there have been very heavy rains 
through the month of December and January, as evidenced 
by the large number of inundated nests with eggs along 
the lagoon edge, the vegetative appearance of the island was that of a drought condition. 
Ass species excepting Sesuvium and Fimbristylus appeared to be greatly reduced in 
number as well as condition when compared to the extreme lushness of the island when 
visited in June of 1962 . A close examination of each species revealed a multitude 
of causes. The island appears to have been subjected to intense and severe storm 
winds and seas from the west and south. An accompanying photograph shows the Scaevola 
