370 MB. W. T. THISELTON DYEb'S BEPORT 



Mr. Rostrup, the eminent Danish mycologist, his paper upon 

 " Heterasciske TJredineer " (1884). In this I am pleased to see 

 the same fact has been noticed by him, but with different fungi. 

 First with Coleosporium senecionis, which, when it occurs in dis- 

 tricts where fir-trees are absent, consists almost wholly of uredo- 

 spores ; and, secondly, with Chrysomyxa ledi. He received from 

 Greenland a specimen of Ledum palustre, upon which the uredo- 

 spores of this fungus were present. Now De Bary has shown 

 that secidiospores of this Chrysomyxa occur upon Picea excelsa, a 

 tree which does not grow in Greenland. 



Report on the Botany of Mr. H. 0. Forbes's Expedition to 

 Timor-Laut, by W. T. Thiselton Dyer, F.R.S., Secretary to 

 the British- Association Committee for the Exploration of the 

 island ; with a Ljrft of determinations of the Plants collected, 

 by Prof. OlivMr, E.R.S. 



[Read 6th November, 1884.] 



The Timor-Laut or Tenimber Islands are a small archipelago situ- 

 ated to the north of Australia, about halfway between the island 

 of Timor and the Aru Islands. The natural history has hitherto 

 been almost entirely unknown. In 1882 Mr. H. O. Forbes, 

 aided by grants from the British Association, was enabled to 

 spend the months of July, August, and September in the group. 

 He landed at the islet ol Larat, which lies off the north-east 

 coast of Yamdena (as the northern of the two portions of Timor- 

 Laut is named), at a distance of about 15 minutes' sail. 



Of the physical characters of the group Mr. Forbes gives the 

 following account : — 



" The Tenimber Islands, as seen from the sea, are very low. 

 There are no hills ; nothing over 400 feet on the northern island, 

 nor on the surrounding islets, with the exception of Laibobar 

 on the west coast of Yamdena, which rises to a height of about 

 1500 feet as seen from Larat across the mainland. The Tenimber 

 group is surrounded (as I am told by the Commander of the 

 Dutch man-of-War ' Samarang ') by a very deep sea. The islands 

 are entirely of coral formation. On the eastern shore of 

 Yamdena there are coral-cliffs of about 100 feet in height, from 

 which immense stalactites hang down. Along the beach are 

 here and there blocks of tideworn sandstone ; but nowhero have 



