206 



OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



Singapore is now pretty well cleared of forest except for some 

 small nacts on Bukit Tima, the principal hill on the island, and a 

 tract connected with the very interesting botanical garden. The 

 forest contains some palms, mostly rattans, and a variety of trees, 

 among which may be mentioned species of Melaleuca, Terminalia, 



Albizzia, Eugenia, Diospyros, 

 Flacourtia, Calophyllum, and 

 others, including an oak. 

 Among the lianas, the most 

 prominent, aside from the rat- 

 tans, were species of Uncaria, 

 Bauhinia, and Derris, — all 

 Leguminosae. 



The garden contains an ex- 

 tensive collection of plants, 

 both native and exotic. The 

 collection of palms comprises 

 about 250 species, and there 

 is an unusually fine collection 

 of ferns and orchids. The 

 pitcher plants (Nepenthes) 

 especially characteristic of the 

 region, are particularly in- 

 teresting. 



The mountain forests of the 

 Peninsula are to a great ex- 

 tent still intact, and afford a 

 most interesting study to the 

 botanist. The writer made 

 brief visits to two localities, 

 the Pahang Gap, northwest of Kuala Lumpur, and the Taiping 

 Hills in the northern part of the Peninsula. 



Up to about 3,000 feet the vegetation is decidedly tropical in 

 composition. The trees are often very tall, sometimes 150-200 

 feet high, and the straight smooth trunks may be 5-6 feet in di- 

 ameter, although usually less. As in India, the Dipterocarps are 

 much in evidence; Shorea, Dipterocarpus, Balanocarpus, and 

 others. Figs, wild bread-fruit ( Artocarpus) , and many Legumi- 

 nosae, e. g., Afzelia, Pterocarpus, Pithecolobium, Albizzia, etc., as 



Fig. 60. — Tree-ferns (Alsophila glauca), 

 Taiping Hills, Federated Malay 

 States. 



