BY THE REV. J. E. TENISON-WOODS. 27 



pletes the census of this river-bank flora, for the Nipa absorbs 

 everything. Such thickets does it make that whole islands are 

 floated ofl* by the spring tides, and these cruise about, especially 

 oE the coast of Borneo, like patches of marine jungle. I can 

 testify to the strange appearance they present when met far from 

 the land, sheltering sea and land birds together. The fruits on a 

 short stalk amongst the stolons are quite as big as a man's head. 

 They are cut ofl" before maturity, and the juice which exudes is 

 fermented, and forms an acid and not very agreeable stimulant. 



Altogether the Mangroves are of the highest interest to 

 botanists, and possess a beauty of their own. It is a wonderful 

 provision of nature which associates together so many luxuriant 

 trees of great beauty of foliage, growing so richly in salt water, a 

 medium fatal to nearly every land plant. 



Alluvial Plains. — The alluvial plains are thickly studded 

 with clumps or belts of timber, and open grassy savannahs where 

 the lofty Lalang or jungle-grass (Im'peTaia arundinacea, Cyr.) 

 meets above the head. This is interlaced by many climbers such 

 as the climbing ferns Lygodium scandens, 8w., L. japonica, Sw., 

 and L. Jiexuoswn, Sw. At a distance such open spaces look like 

 meadow-land of bright green with little clumps of trees like a 

 park. But the ground underneath is sloppy, and the meadow is 

 full of coarse vegetation and harsh grasses very difficult to walk 

 through. It is a flowery region. About Singapore and through all 

 the Straits Settlements Thunhergia alata with its yellow or white 

 blossoms, and a very large-flowered blue species, T. grandiflora^ 

 are common in almost all the clumps of trees. Gallicarpa longifoliay 

 a tree with minute pink flowers in large clusters, is everywhere 

 on the plains, with a tender spring-like look about it. Showy 

 Ixoras also are common with a profusion of long-tubed scarlet, pink 

 or white flowers. But most frequently met is Melastoma mala- 

 bathrica with large pink salver-shaped flowers. It is like a dog-rose 

 at a distance except for the few long stamens with a prolongation 

 of the connective ending in two spurs. This species is as common 

 at Hong Kong as in the Straits Settlements, and equally so 



