ee_ te ee ON le aE aL! i. alli lh . iaadel rs . bo onde bit ae ie Wis eke Saal i ‘ ‘J. a . er ee 1 de The northwest side of the basin area rises rapidly to the high portion of the islet. Guettarda reduced numbers enters the composition of the shrub here, throughout the rest of the islet. is underlain by broken rock of irregular sizes, The ocean side of the isiet fllled between with sand. area was not planted to coconuts and here the Pisonia reaches development in an open forest, with Boerhaavia ground cover. and is found in This its maximum forming the major part of the The lagoon half of the high part of the islet is covered with deeper soil and coconuts have been planted. understory, but Terminalila disturbed soils The high shrub forms a definite is found only along the lagoon-side margins. In of this area the ephemeral weeds Portulaca oleracea and Fleurya ruderalis may be found. Pemphis acidula and Suriana maritima occur as isolated Indlviduals on the high shrub margins of the high portion of the islet. BRUCE. The islet of BRUCE 1s apparently underlain by a coral sand rock which has been mainly broken up into irregularly sized rocks under the islet itself, but is mainly unbroken in the shallow waters surrounding the islet. The southeast portion of the islet 1s a long sand spit with a short perpendicular spit extending oceanward. The long spit is covered by the low vegetation with extensive open patches of Lepturus. Along the highest portion the Messerschmidia and Scaevola take on the character of the high shrub. The perpendicular spit which is covered by high tides has the high shrub Pemphis. The main part of the islet 1s covered by the high shrub, and except for a Rand on the ocean gide 10-20 meters broad had been entirely planted to coconuts, This band is underlain by the broken coral-sand rock with little soil or sand between. The Scaevola is the domtnant shrub in this region with almost no ground cover and no vines. dominant. Here too, In back of this band the Messerschmidila becomes vines and ground cover is lacking. On the lagoon side of the islet there is apparently a greater accumulation of organic matter in the soll. Pisonia and Cordia nearly exclude the other shrubs. I. tuba forms a nearly continuous blanket on the margin. An airstrip that had been cut out of the vegetation just southeast of the center and a road connecting the atrip with the landing on the lagoon side near the northwest end form openings in this vegetation. The strip, which is no longer in use, and the road are covered or bordered by Fimbristylis in the open. in the shadier portions of these clearings the weedy grass Eragrostis and 18 me em ag 1 we eee nee - etal eet Fee we eg saeeddita Eieieal le ue ee