. i . , , . . . . . 
2 ' 
H The wider shelves of the island are sparsely covered with a flesh-stemmed, 
yellow-flowered portulaca ( Portulaca lutea ), and the summit is rather 
plentifully grown over with Chenopodium sandwicheum bushes, on which 
large colonies of Sula piscator and Fregata aquila were nesting at the 
time of our visit.Elschner (3) briefly mentions the vegetation as 
being ?, slight. . . and this... is found in higher, more flat parts of the 
island while the lower parts of the vertical walls and the- shore rocks 
are bare.” While he alludes to plant collections made-- ?, my time being 
limited I was unable to gather many plants on this island”--the 
disposition of the specimens is unknown. The first comprehensive 
botanical collections were made by Caum in 1923 and Christophersen in 
1924 during the ,f C ,f and ,f E ,? trips, respectively, of the Tanager 
Expedition (6,7). Their publication (2) concurs with all earlier 
observations in that the vegetation of Necker is described as sparse 
and inconspicuous. 
G. S. Judd, a forester, sowed seed of the following species of 
plants in the saddle between Flagpole and Summit Hills during the 1923 
expedition: Haematoxylum campechianum L., Thespesia populnea Sol., 
Casuarina equisetifolia L., Pritchardia pacifica Seem. & Wendl., 
Pritchardia sp., Livistonia australis Mort., and Lycopersicum esculentum 
Miller (2). Fortunately, none grew. 
Later collections were by Eugene Kridler in July, and Charles 
Long and J. W. Beardsley in September, 1964. 
0 
Through the courtesy of Eugene Kridler, manager of the refuge, 
and the Coast Guard, I was able to visit Necker Island on August 28-29, 
1968. 
p 
