I 
Ridley .— The Distribution of Plants . 19 
alien, e. g. on Kew Green. Against its being sea-dispersed is the fact that 
it is absent from the oceanic islands, Cocos, Christmas, Fernando de 
Noronha, &c., and did not appear on Krakatau after the eruption. 
It is not known as a fossil at all, and its origin seems to have been 
Africa, as there are other species of the genus there. 
Sanicula europaea , Linn. (Umbelliferae), is a plant of open woods 
in temperate regions, and the cooler parts of mountain forests in the tropics. 
T It occurs in central and northern but not arctic Europe, the whole 
of Africa to the Cape, India, Ceylon, China, Japan, and in the mountains 
of the Malay Peninsula, Java, Sumatra, and Celebes. There are allied 
species apparently distinct in North America, but none in South America. 
The Malayan form has been considered distinct by some botanists, but 
it seems merely a warm country form. It does not appear to have been 
found fossil. 
The fruit is armed with hooked bristles by which it can adhere to 
the fur of animals, and be so dispersed. Though the area covered by 
this plant is very large, it is mainly continental, and its occurrence in the 
islands mentioned shows a former land connexion with the mainland 
of Asia, corroborated by the presence of other palaearctic plants with it. 
It is absent from Borneo together with these palaearctic plants. 
Anacardium occidental , Linn., the Cashew-nut. This tree in the 
Malay Peninsula is commonly to be found in sandy spots along the coast 
and also on heaths, e. g. at Setul. It appears to be quite wild, and, 
though the natives do occasionally eat the kernels, I have never known 
them plant it, nor have I seen it near their houses. The form here 
appears to be the wild form which occurs in similar localities in Brazil, 
with a small, usually green, thickened peduncle to the fruits, not the 
cultivated form with a thick, reddish, fleshy peduncle. Seeds of it, appa¬ 
rently quite sound, occur in the sea, and I have little doubt that it is 
to some extent sea-borne. It is undoubtedly a native of Brazil, whence 
it was introduced, probably by the Jesuit Fathers, to Manila. Linschoten 
mentions it as occurring in Malacca in 1583, together with the Papaya, 
Chillis, and the pineapple, but it is only mentioned by Garcia in 1593 
(‘ Historia Aromatum ’, ed. iv) as occurring in Brazil. There are several 
other species of the genus in tropical America, and it occurs now in the 
Seychelles and Madagascar and,Ceylon, as it does in Singapore, on the 
sandy coasts. It still retains its original Brazilian name, Cashew, in the 
form of Gajus in Malay. It seems to be absent from Australia and 
Polynesia, and, except the cultivated form, inland from Africa. It seems 
certain that the original form introduced was the cultivated one with the 
large pear-like peduncle, and that it has established itself on our sea-shores, 
reverting to the small-fruited wild form, and been spread along our coasts 
by the sea. 
