204 OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



While showy flowers are not abundant in the rain-forest, 

 occasionally there is a brilliant mass of color, when some great 

 creeper or t pee bursts into bloom. The writer recalls two especially 

 striking examples of this seen on the railway journey between 

 Penang and Kuala Lumpur. This was in December. The first 

 was a giant creeper (Bauhinia sp.), which was not infrequent, and 

 reached to the tops of the tall trees, where it burst into a blaze of 

 brilliant orange. The other was a moderate sized tree, a species of 

 crape-myrtle (Lagerstroemia sp.) almost hidden by the mass of 

 lilac-purple flowers. 



Morning glories (Ipomoea spp.), are common, and now and 

 then on the railway embankment, a pretty pink ground-orchid 

 (Spathoglottis sp.) was noted, as well as a number of other pretty, 

 if not remarkably striking flowers, some, no doubt, introduced 

 species. 



An occasional screw-pine was noted in the forest, but these are 

 much commoner in the Malayan region as strand-plants, than in 

 the forest, although there are forest species also. 



Singapore 



The island of Singapore, separated from the tip of the Peninsula 

 by a narrow strait, is familiar to every visitor to the Far East, 

 as it is the great centre for travel in the East Indies. It is at once 

 apparent that we are in the heart of the tropics. Almost on the 

 Line, the constant heat and high humidity are reflected in the 

 rank luxuriance of the vegetation. The gardens are overflowing 

 with a wealth of gorgeous flowering trees and shrubs, orchids, 

 palms, and all the other choicest products of the equatorial zone. 

 The markets are filled with the many fruits for which the Malayan 

 tropics are famous. With the oranges, pineapples, and bananas, 

 are the papayas and avocados of America, and the native 

 mangosteen and durian, as well as many less known fruits and 

 vegetables. 



The mangosteen and durian, are often pronounced the finest of 

 all fruits. The former (Garcinia mangostana) , in shape and size 

 resembling a small tomato, is a dark maroon in color, the deep-red 

 thick rind enclosing about half a dozen segments, something like 

 an orange, each segment composed of a snow-white juicy pulp 

 of delicate and delicious flavor. The durian (Durio zibethinus) 



