August 17,
1964
Palumbo:
(cont.)
"The very dense vegetation covers the island com-
pletely except for a few bare strips along the old lagoon road.
The impenetrable nature of the growth is evidenced by the fact that
it required some hours to hack a path from the lagoon to the
ocean side.
The usual species of plants are present here and
all seem to be well formed.
and Caesalpinia,
lagoon road.
New species reported here are papaya
a legume, growing in profusion along the old
Papaya trees are in a patch, where planted originally
on the lagoon side, about 100 yards inland.
large,
25-30 feet,
fruits were all green,
rats eat the fruits as they ripen.
All trees are very
suggesting that the
Old stands of Cordia are present
in the center of the island as well as burned coconut trees.
Plant samples were collected in the area of soil pit #ll ina
grove of pandanus trees bordered by Pisonia and Scaevola.
was not
seen,
nor was Cenchrus,
the
sand burr.
The
Lepturus
lush nature
of the growth indicates a soil with capacity to support food
plants.
The algal populations on the seaward reef is excellent, containing many species growing in abundance.
The species picture
is different on the lagoon side, but again algal growth is excellent on the coral and the submerged wrecks."