xi. c, 6 Merrill: Reliquiae Robinsonianae , 247 



flora, yet at the present time a fairly high percentage of species 

 enumerated are known only from Amboina. Due to the proxim- 

 ity of other islands, and to the backward state of our knowledge 

 of the flora of the Moluccas as a group, it is only reasonable to 

 expect that an intensive exploration of the neighboring islands 

 will yield most of the species that are now known only from 

 Amboina. 



The flora is, of course, a typical Malayan one. It contains 

 some Australian types, but most of these are rare or at the 

 best are nowhere dominant, quite as similar Australian types are 

 found in the Philippines. Among these may be included Flin- 

 dersia, Eucalyptus, Stackhousia, Schizomeria, and, perhaps, re- 

 presentatives of a few other genera. Like other parts of the 

 Moluccas, Celebes, and New Guinea, the Amboina flora presents 

 a striking similarity to that of the Philippines, not only in its 

 species, but also in its genera. In one of Doctor Robinson's 

 letters, he mentions the fact that so far as the general type of 

 the vegetation was concerned, and for that matter most of the 

 genera and very many of the species encountered, he might as 

 well be in the Philippines as in Amboina. In the course of the 

 study of this material a number of species have been detected 

 that were previously reported only from the Philippines, among 

 these being Thoracostachyum lucbanense Kiikenth., Abelmoschus 

 mindanaensis Warb., Gyrinopsis brachyantha Merr., Dysoxylum 

 euphlebium Merr., Polypodium merrillii Copel., Litsea perrottetii 

 F.-Vilh, Hypoestes laxiflora Nees, Pratia ovata Elm., Erycibe 

 lateriflora Elm., and Aglaia multifoliola Merr. The Amboina 

 species Callicarpa pentandra Roxb. proves to be indentical with 

 Geunsia hookeri Merr., of the Philippines, and Roxburgh's specific 

 name is hence adopted. Polygala polifolia Presl, previously 

 known only from Luzon, the Caroline Islands, and New Guinea, 

 appears in our Amboina collections, as do Clerodendron macros- 

 tegium Schauer, previously known only from the Philippines and 

 Ceram, and Stackhousia intermedia Bailey var. philippinensis 

 Pamp., a characteristic Australian type, previously known from 

 Luzon and Guimaras in the Philippines, Yap, in the Carolines, 

 and the only known representative of the family north of 

 Australia. 



The discovery of a representative of the genus Gyrinopsis in 

 Amboina, the genus otherwise known only from the Philippines, 

 adds another name to the already long list of genera that are 

 known only from the Philippines and the islands to the south and 

 southeast of the group, including : Cubilui, Gyrinopsis, Sararanga, 



