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302 LOUD Howe's island.
where the stem brandies off. The general appearance of this tree,
which frequently attains a height of from 40 to 50 feet, is very sin-
gular indeed :
the
whitish-coloured root-like bodies, or forked, adven-
titious stems, occupying as much space below as the branches do above,
and thus making the tree resemble an hour-glass. This is a more inland
plant than the former, and grows up to a very considerable elevation.
The next and only plant of this class of any particular interest be-
longs to li'idacere, and is found only in two or three parts of the island,
and that sparingly. One is puzzled to think how such a plant could
be indigenous to this quarter of the world, so far distinct is it from
most of its congeners. Seed vessels only were obtained, Avhicli resem-
bled those of the genus Moraa ; the flowers were not seen, but from
the description given of them by the settlers, who call them the " wed-
ding llowers," they would be referable to the genus named ;
the leaves
of the highest plant obtained were about 6 feet in length, and 3 inches
wide at the broadest part.
Crinuni pedunculatum was abundant in many parts of the moist
sandy shores ; it was the only Amaryllid noticed. Orchids were rare,
only two kinds being seen ; one, a species of Dendrobinm, grew spa-
ringly upon Figs, and in rocky, shady places ; another, a species of
Snrcochilus, was observed attached to trees high upon the hillsides.
The Grasses were equally scarce, only three indigenous kinds being
gathered, viz. Spinifex, running along the sands of the coast ; a CJdoris,
and a Polypogon, the two last only in one or two places in the interior.
In all the clearances made by the settlers not now in cultivation, our
Couch Grass, Cynodon Dacfylon, and our Tufty Grass, Sporobolus elon-
gatus, both evidently introduced, have taken possession of the ground.
A single species of Carex, a Cyperns, and a Lamjrrocarya, are all that
represent the Order Cyperaceie, while Jimcus maritimus, Smilax lati-
folia,in\(\ a Commelynaceous plant are the only other endogenous plants
observed.
It would occupy too much space, and would be out of place in this
sketchy description of the botany of the island, to enumerate all the
exogenous plants collected ; I shall, therefore, coniine myself to those
which grow in the greatest abundance, and which mainly characterize
the vegetation, namely, Layunaria Patersoni, an Australian as well as
Norfolk Island plant ; an Ochrosia, remarkable for the abundance of
its deep red-coloured fruit and bright green foliage; two species of