DR. O. STAPF ON THE FLORA OF MOUNT KINABALU. 105 
2. Boreal Types. 
a. Boreal Elements.—This subclass comprises those species which are intimately 
connected with Boreal species, namely :— 
Potentilla leuconota. Carex rara. 
P. Mooniana. Agrostis canina. 
P. parvula. Deschampsia flexuosa. 
Gentiana borneensis. Deyeuxia epileuca ? 
G. lycopodioides. 
Four out of these 9 species are endemic, but one of them, Potentilla parvula, may 
be perhaps only a state of P. Mooniana (see p. 147). The affinity of the potentillas 
and gentians is so clear that I need not here discuss it. These types are known 
from the Owen Stanley Range, but they do not extend farther south or east. 
Carex rara, however, ranges as far south as New South Wales, but it is a member of a 
group of hardly separable species which is nearly confined to Japan, China, and North- 
east India. Agrostis and Deschampsia are essentially Boreal genera, and the varieties 
of A. canina and D. flexuosa found on Kinabalu are, like those from New Zealand, 
Australia, or South America, only subordinate branches of Boreal types. Deyeuxia 
epileuca shows perhaps more relations with some Australian species, but I am still 
doubtful as to the true systematic position of this plant. Potentilla Mooniana, the 2 
species of Gentiana, and Carex rara grow on Kinabalu in more or less boggy places. 
The same Potentilla and the representative species of Gentiana of the Himalaya, 
however, are rather meadow plants than anything else, though the gentians seem to 
prefer or withstand a greater amount of moisture. Potentilla leuconota, Agrostis 
canina, and Deschampsia flexuosa are also meadow plants, the grasses generally growing 
gregariously, but on Kinabalu they have become rock plants, nestling in crevices and 
holes of the rocks. 
b. Elements representing Indo-Malayan Branches of Boreal Types.—This subclass 
comprises : 
Aletris foliolosa. Carex filicina. 
A. rigida. C. hypsophila. 
Scirpus Clarkei. C. fusiformis. 
The two species of Aletris form a small and very natural set which is limited to 
Malaya, but they may be traced back to the more numerous forms which inhabit East 
Asia from the temperate Himalaya to Japan, whilst another species is widely distributed 
through the Eastern States of North America. The genus is a perfectly isolated type; 
most of the species inhabit boggy or marshy places. Scirpus Clarkei is very closely 
allied to S. subcapitatus, Thw., a species ranging from Ceylon to China, both forming a 
distinct group of their own. Carex filicina is a member of the great group “ Indice,” 
and particularly of a set which abounds in India and is plentiful in China and Malaya 
Carex hypsophila and C. fusiformis belong to a group of closely allied species, 
