APOSTASIACEZ OF THE MALAY PENINSULA. 215 
one ascends ; the jungle becomes more open, and on the exposed 
rocky slopes, called Padang Batu (stone fields) by the natives, 
a great variety can often be found. And in these places it is 
noticeable that species which in the low country are only to be 
found on the tops of the loftiest trees, are here to be seen 
growing on the ground or quite low down on the stems and 
branches of the bushes and small trees. Thus, on Kedah Peak, 
at about 3,0C0 feet elevation, the ground in some places is 
thickly carpeted with plants of Bulbophyllum, Celogyne, 
Dendrobium, Platyclinis, Eria, &c.,in such a manner that one 
is up to one’s waist in them. 
A very different orchid flora is that of the limestone hills, 
which are scattered about all over the peninsula, but which 
chiefly run in a broken line north and south. These hills are 
usually mere isolated masses of crystalline limestone, of no 
great size or altitude, often many miles apart, but apparently 
forming lines parallel to the main chain of granite mountains 
which forms the backbone of the peninsula. Orchids are here 
very plentiful, growing both on the weathered pinnacles of 
rock, and on the small trees and shrubs growing in the crevices. 
The rocks of the Lankawi Islands, which have produced so 
many peculiar planis of all orders, are also of limestone. 
Flowering of Orchids.—The rainfall being very heavy, and 
spread over the whole year, there is no distinction of wet and 
dry seasons; this is probably the reason why there is no special 
flowering season for most orchids. The greater part of the 
Species flower at longer or shorter intervals throughout the 
year, though perhaps more may be found in bloom in the first 
three months. Calanthe curculigoides, Lindl., and Grammate- 
phyllum speciosum, Blume, are exceptions ; the former flowering 
regularly in November, the latter in August or September. 
Saprophytic plants appear generally when hot and dry weather 
follows heavy rains; and this applies not only to orchids such 
as Lecanorchis and Didymoplezis, but also to the Burmanniacec 
(Thismia, Burmannia tuberosa, Bece., and Gymnosiphon) and 
saprophytes of other orders; so that when one or other of these 
is found, the others may be expected to be in flower as well; but 
merely clearing a track through the jungle will often cause these 
plants to appear in a few weeks, whatever be the weather. A 
certain number of species flower irregularly all through the year, 
and are indeed rarely out of flower. Others, of which Dendro- 
