Notes on the Botany of Fernando Noronha

Summary. The whole group of islands possesses certain characteristics common to all truly oceanic islands, and some of those which are merely the relics of vanished continents. In the first place, there is the absence of indigenous mammals, and more noticeably of bats, of freshwater fish, and amphibians. Again, the number of indigenous species, both of plants and animals, is very small, while the number of individuals is very large. The insects are small and dull in colour, and but few of the plants have showy flowers, white and yellow being prevailing colours. A considerable proportion of the indigenous plants are shrubby or arboreous, as in many other oceanic islands; but arboreous or even shrubby Composits do not exist, indigenous species of the group being rare in the islands.