History of Saint Pierre Islet

island is barren except for a clump of Casuarina equisetifolia trees up 12 m (40 ft) high on its northwestern part, covering a third of the land area. The trees were originally planted as windbreak for the mining camp, and have unexpectedly thrived and spread. Most of the plant species once found on St Pierre are now gone, including the Pisonia, Suicide Tree (Cerbera odollam) and rosemallow (Hibiscus tiliaceus). Some Pemphis acidula might persist.

By about 1960, it was noted that the most common herbaceous plant was Stachytarpheta indica, while the introduced Indian Blanketflower (Gaillardia pulchella) had established itself widely. Sisal (Agave sisalana), Chinese tiolet (Asystasia gangetica), Papaya (Carica papaya), Jimsonweed (Datura stramonium) and bananas (Musa) were found around the mining camp. Whether any of these has survived is not known, though the drop seed grass Sporobolus Virginians which was found in abundance on the dunes probably has.

The seaward faces of St. Pierre Island are abrupt and undercut fossil coral cliffs, 2.4–3 m (8–10 ft) high and broken at one point only by a 5 m (16 ft)-wide inlet to a cove with sandy bottom. Thus St Pierre Island is virtually inaccessible from the sea. In the center is a depression more