A PRELIMINARY LIST OF MALDIVE I*LANTS* Plumeria acutifulia Poir.
- Vinca rosea L.
Calotropis gigantea Bi'. Tournefortia argentea L. /. Solarium Melongena L. ("Brin- jall." Bell.) "^^Physalis sp. Capsicum sp. Justicia procumbens L. Lippia nodifiora Rich. Vitex Negundo L. Perhaps in- troduced. Clerodendrum inerme Br. "^'Mirahilis Jalapa L. ("Asaru- mu," Maid.) Pisonia morindmfolia Br. (P. alha Span.). I take the "Los," Maid., to be this, but have seen no specimen.! It is not im- probably a native, introduced by the sea as other littoral species. Amarantus ganyeticus L. Nothosaerva brachiata Wight. Mtvlq, lanata Juss, Piper Betle L. P. nigrum, L. Euphorbia hirta L. Phyllanthus Niruri L. Acalypha indica L. Ricinus communis L. Manihot utilissima. Ficus benghalensis L. ? (" Nika," Maid. " Banyan." Bell.) Artocarpus integrifolia L. (*' Sak* keyo," Maid.) A. incisa L. f. (" Bambakeyo," Maid.) Pouzolzia indica Gaud.j var. alienata L. Gloriosa superba L. (*'Vihala- godi," Maid.) Ananas sativa. Musa paradisiaca L. (Bell.) Dioscorea sp. (" Hittala," Maid.) Pandanus odoratissimus L. /. C'Ma-kahikeyo," Maid.) Areca Catechu L. Cocos nucifera L. ("Karhi," Maid.) Fimbristylis spathacea Roth. Panicum miliaceum L. (Kudi- bai," Maid.) Setaria italica Beauv. (** Ura," Maid.) Zoysia pungens Willd. Saccharum officinarum L. Eleusine segyptiaca Gaertn. E, coracana Gaertn. ("Bimbi," Maid.) Eragrostis plumosa Link. Bambusa vulgaris Wendl. To this list may be almost certainly added the following : — Guettarda speciosa L. Macaranga tomentosa Wight. Vernonia cinerea Less. Spinifex squarrosus L. Hernandia peltata Meissn. There are also a few local names given in Pyrard de Laval's vocabulary which have not been determined, and there are doubt- less some more cultivated plants recorded in general works, marine surveys, &c. The above list of eighty-seven species contains forty which may be considered as wild in the islands, i.e.^ not due to importation intentionally or accidentally by man. They are for the most part the ordinary sea- shore plants of the Eastern Tropics, and the whole of them are to be found on the south coast of Ceylon. As many as fourteen attain the dimensions of shrubs or trees. t This grows also on the Chagos Is., south of the Maldives. Mr. Bell informs me that Lieut. Moresby says, "The Bois Mapou (the roose [= los] tree of the Maldives) grows to an immense size on all parts of the islands ; the wood is soft and spongy." It is also recorded for one of the Laccadive Is. P. macrophylla Chois. is called "Bois Mapou" in the beychedes {FLMaur.2ii'6)^
