244 



OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



the forest, their tough spiny stems, and leaves armed with re- 

 curved thorns, making absolutely impassable barriers, veritable 

 barbed-wire entanglements. Climbing aroids, e. g., Pothos 

 longipes, Rhapidophora Australasica, are much in evidence, 

 as well as many other lianas, among which are several species 

 of Vitis, and a pepper {Piper Mestoni) the latter with very showy 



Fig. 68. — Mangroves, Cairns, North Queensland, Australia. 



mangroves. 



At right, young 



scarlet fruits. The usual abundance of epiphytes, orchids, ferns, 

 Peperomia, etc., was noted. 



Ferns, liverworts, mosses, were not remarkably abundant. 

 Of the ferns, the most striking were some gigantic specimens 

 of Angiopteris. 



Palms are a conspicuous feature of the Queensland rain-forest. 

 The commonest and most beautiful are the species of Archonto- 

 phoenix, whose straight slender stems, and crowns of graceful 

 feathery leaves, are among the most beautiful of the order. A. 

 Cunninghamiana is often cultivated under the name Seaforthia 



