212 OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



cling to the trunks and branches of the trees, often almost entirely 

 concealing them, evidence of the extreme humidity of the climate 

 of these lowland forests. 



Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, lies within a single degree of 

 the equator, which almost bisects Borneo. With an annual 

 rainfall of 160 inches, and an almost constant hot-house tempera- 

 ture, Sarawak has a true equatorial climate, and the vegetation 

 i xhibits a luxuriance that very few regions, even under the equator, 

 can rival. All the common tropical products abound, and reach 

 great perfection. Palms of many sorts, bananas, pineapples, 

 bamboos, orchids, grow in rich profusion, and the gardens show a 

 wonderful wealth of rare and beautiful trees and shrubs. The 

 trunks of the palms and the trunks and branches of other trees 

 are laden with epiphytes in bewildering profusion, while giant 

 creepers, with flowers of every hue, are draped over every fence, 

 or climb high into the trees. 



While the forest has been cleared in the immediate vicinity 

 of Kuching, one does not have to go far to see samples of the orig- 

 inal forest, whose exploration is by no means easy, as the lowlands 

 aif Largely swamps, or else overgrown with impenetrable thickets 

 of rattans and other troublesome undergrowths. 



Where the original forest has been removed, a second growth 

 quickly springs up, composed of many species of trees, and a dense 

 tangle of bushes, lianas, ferns, and a great variety of herbaceous 

 species. 



As might be expected in so humid a climate, ferns are much in 

 evidence. Among the commonest are species of Gleichenia. We 

 have already referred to the great development of Gleichenias 

 in the Malay Peninsula, which in this respect, as well as some 

 others, shows a marked resemblance to Borneo. The climbing 

 ferns (Lygodium spp.) are also common and very beautiful. 



One of the commonest and showiest shrubs of this region is 

 Wormia pidcheUa (Dilleniaceae), whose big yellow flowers are 

 seen everywhere. The genus Wormia is very abundant through- 

 out Malaya, and at once attracts attention. The Acanthus family, 

 and the Melastomaceae, the latter with pretty pink or purple 

 flowers, are among the commonest of the more showy shrubs, and 

 now and then one sees a scarlet Aeschynanthus climbing up the 

 trunk of a tree or established as an epiphyte. 



