204 NOTES ON THE FAUNA AND FLORA OF SARAWAK. 



size. These flange-bearing trees belong to various natural orders : 

 perhaps the best known are the " Tapang " {Abauria excelsa) and 

 various species of Koompassia. 



Climbing plants and Lianas such as Gnetums, Hoy as. ]'itis, 

 Tylophora and scarlet-flowered Baiihinias are very abundantly 

 represented in the Sarawakjungle, and the thorny rattans — which 

 are nothing but climbing palms — trail out their scrambling stems 

 for distances of many yards. 



On the ground below are to be found ferns, a fev/ ground orchids, 

 some Aroids, a number of Zingiberace^e {Alpinia and Hornstedtia) 

 and some sedges. Grasses are never found in the virgin jungle 

 with but one exception, Leptaspis iirceolata, which appears to be 

 the only truly indigenous grass in Borneo. Occasionally one may 

 meet Vv^ith that gigantic Arum, the Aniorphothallus, or with the 

 most degraded of Phanerogam parasites, a Rafflesia, with its 

 enormous and ill-smelling flowers : of this latter, several species are 

 known, and it is worthy of note that the host of this genus is 

 invariably a species of Cissiis. 



A remarkable association of animal and plant life for the mutual 

 benefit of both is exemplified by the ant-frequented " hospitating " 

 plants, a heterogeneous assembly belonging to various orders. In 

 these plants, which comprise ferns {Lecanopteris spp. and Pol\- 

 podimn sinuostim), Rubiaceae [Mymecodia and Hydnophytiim) and 

 several Macarangas, the stems are hollowed out and the cavities 

 are appropriated by ants as a permanent home. In Mymecodia, 

 which is an epiphyte, the stem is widely swollen and tuberous : 

 in section this is seen to be honeycombed with numerous cells 

 and galleries, the dwelling place of myriads of ants. In the very 

 young Myrmecodia, long before it is approached by ants, the stem 

 is tuberous and hollow. Such hospitating plants are met with 

 very frequently in the Sarawak jungle. 



Succulent plants, xerophytic leaves and strongly spinous leaves, 

 such as are so abundant in South Africa, are exceedingly rare in 

 Sarawak : nevertheless certain natural orders {e.g., Euphorbiacese), 

 which are typically xerophytic in South Africa, are very strongly 

 developed in Borneo. The only xerophytic habitats in Sarawak 

 are on the summits of the mountains, where the trees are very 

 stunted and the leaves thick and leathery, and by the sea shore : 

 perhaps also that impenetrable maze, the mangrove swamp, must 

 be included here, as leathery leaves are the rule in the Rhizophoreae, 

 the Sonneratia and other mangrove trees. 



The climate of Sarawak has no well-marked seasons, and the 

 vegetable life knows no such seasonal contrasts as obtains in South 

 Africa, the trees being ever green. Nevertheless most of the rain 

 appears in the months between October and March, whilst June, 

 July and August are comparatively dry months. In correspond- 

 ence with this there is a fairly definite flowering and fruiting season. 

 All the common fruits, the Durian [Durio zibcthinits), the Mango- 

 steen {Garcinia mangostana) and the Rhambutan {Nepheliwn 

 lappaceum) appear in January or February, the flowering season 

 being about September or October. Some of the jungle trees seem 

 to flower and fruit, at about the same times of the year : the fruit 



