THE PALAEOTROPICS 191 



and the fine Ixora coccinea, a shrub with clusters of tubular 

 scarlet flowers. 



At Peradeniya, about 1,700 feet elevation, is a fine botanical 

 garden, with a large collection of tropical and sub-tropical plants, 

 including the most notable native species. There are some re- 

 markably fine clumps of the largest of all bamboos (Dendrocala- 

 mus giganteus) more than a hundred feet high. Here may also 

 be seen fine specimens of the native Talipot-palm (Corypha um- 

 braculifera), whose immense fan leaves are over four yards across. 

 At maturity an enormous terminal panicle of flowers is developed, 

 after which the tree dies. In the early spring many of the showiest 

 trees come into flower. One of these, Bombax Malabaricum, is 

 a very large tree with big carmine-red, mallow-like flowers, espe- 

 cially striking, as the tree is quite leafless when in bloom. The 

 magnificent Amherstia nobilis, from Burma, was especially fine at 

 Peradeniya, and the long pendent racemes of brilliant red flowers, 

 looking like orchids, make it one of the finest of flowering trees. 

 The principal mountain mass of Ceylon rises to a plateau, 

 6,000-7,000 feet high, with some peaks a thousand feet higher. 

 The climate of the plateau is temperate, and the vegetation is 

 reminiscent of the Nilgiris of South India, or the temperate Hima- 

 laya. As the plateau is too high, in most places, for tea culture, 

 it is still largely in a state of nature, and shows little admixture 

 of introduced species. 



This region is a combination of low evergreen forest and open 

 grass-land, the latter known locally as "Patana." The line be- 

 tween patana and forest, is a very sharp one. The evergreen forest 

 is composed of a good many genera, e. g., Eugenia, Calophyllum, 

 Luytsia, Symplocos and others. A feature of this region is a 

 magnificent tree-rhododendron (R. arboreum), also found in the 

 Himalaya. It is a spreading tree of considerable size, the flowers 

 a brilliant blood-red, presenting a splendid sight- 

 In the early spring, the young foliage of these evergreen forests 

 shows a great variety of color, red, yellow, pink and purple, the 

 effect being very beautiful. 



The herbaceous plants are largely familiar boreal types. Thus 

 at Horton Plains, the following genera were noted: Viola, Hy- 

 pericum, Gnaphalium, Lobelia, Ranunculus, Gentiana, Gaul- 

 theria, Alchemilla, Fragaria, Plantago. Other less familiar were 



