288 PROCEEDINGS: BOSTON SOCIETY NATURAL HISTORY. 
Other groups characteristic of tropical regions and to be found on 
Margarita are the Melastomaceae, Aroideae, Piperaceae, Lorantha- 
ceae, and such members of the Fihces as Trichomanes, Hymeno- 
phyhum, and Cyathea. 
Thus it may readily be seen that the variety of plants is rather 
great. One finds all conditions from that in which the halogens and 
other xeroph^'tes of the seashore and plains are found to that of the 
mesophytes in the moist mountain regions, and not alone terrestial 
plants but also many epiphytes and a few phanerogamic parasites. 
Flora of the Island of Coche. 
Description of the Vegetative Conditions. 
The island of Coche is a t}']iical desert island and, so far as re- 
ported, had never been visited by a botanist. The conditions exist- 
ing on such an island were of great interest to me, and the fact that two 
new species of plants were found together with the fact that few 
descriptions of such an island are on record, makes it seem desirable 
to describe the flora of Coche and the vegetative conditions in such 
detail as may be possible. 
It was through the kindness of friends at Porlamar, Margarita, 
that I was enabled with a companion, Dr. A. F. Blakeslee, to visit 
Coche. The party, in charge of Sr. Antonio and Sr. Guilarte, left 
Porlamar at noon, Aug. 4, 1903, in a sloop, and reached San Pedro 
on the western end of Coche shortly after nightfall. Although the 
sign over one dooi'^'ay proclaimed "Restaurant" within, yet the 
proprietor refused to furnish either food or shelter. Fortunately, 
our companions had friends there so that rooms in different houses 
were assigned where hammocks, which had been brought along, could 
be slung. The meals were picked up as well as could be done at the 
stores. Drinking water cost tAvo and one-half cents a liter. It Avas 
found that this Avater was brought over from Porlamar and from the 
mainland. Water Avas to be had from pits on the shore but it Avas un- 
desirable for drinking purposes. 
On the morning of the 5th of August Dr. Blakeslee and I traversed 
the loAv shore of this end from the south point to the north. The beach 
stretches for a kilometer and a half to the northwest into a narrow spit 
of land. On this extent of loAvland is a salt lake, where great pile^ of 
salt are gathered for shipment. Beyond the lake itself for another 
