216 OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



orchids is the "tiger-orchid" {Grammatophyllum speciosum) . This 

 is a giant among orchids, and may be seen in great perfection in 

 the famous botanical gardens at Buitenzorg in Java, where its 

 pendent leafy shoots hang down from the trees to a length of ten 

 feet or more. The numerous upright flower-stalks as tall as a man, 

 bear many big brown and yellow striped blossoms. The genus 

 Dendrobium is one of the largest in the eastern tropics, and many 

 species are extremely beautiful and highly prized by collectors. 

 A very interesting species is D. crumenatum, known in the British 

 possessions as " pigeon orchid." It is very abundant and has the 

 remarkable habit of flowering simultaneously over a large area, 

 and only for a single day, when the long sprays of fragrant white 

 flowers may be seen by thousands. The next day they are faded, 

 and not a single fresh flower can be seen. 



Among the noteworthy ferns of Mattang were species of Kaul- 

 fussia, Angiopteris, and Schizaea, and some fine tree-ferns (Al- 

 sophila contaminans). The handsome fern Dipteris conjugate 

 was especially fine, the big fan-shaped leaves with stalks at 

 least 8 feet high. Of the epiphytic ferns, the Hymenophyllaceae 

 were not especially abundant, although represented by a number 

 of species. Epiphytic species of Lycopodium included several 

 conspicuous species like L. Phlegmasia, and an occasional speci- 

 men of the curious Psilotum flaccidum, with leafless flattened, 

 pendent shoots was seen. 



At the summit of Mattang is a small area of comparatively 

 open ground, with various sedges and grasses, but these are 

 scarce in the heavy forest which covers most of the mountain. 



Santubong, on the opposite side of the Sarawak delta, from 

 Mattang, is much steeper, and the forest is more open and drier. 

 At the summit, however, it is boggy, with abundant Sphagnum, 

 like that of northern peat-bogs. The stunted trees are covered 

 with a very heavy growth of epiphytes, among w 7 hich were two 

 very beautiful rhododendrons, and one of the finest pitcher- 

 plants (Nepenthes Veitchii), which is prized in cultivation for 

 its magnificent pitchers. 



The beach skirting the foot of Santubong offers an excellent 

 example of the Malayan strand-flora. Creeping over the sandy 

 beach was the ubiquitous Ipomoea pes-caprae, found on pretty 

 much every tropical beach the world over, and further back 



