Chap. Ill] MOUNTAIN REGIONS IN THE TROPICS 



733 



lianes are scanty and thin ; epiphytes are small, at first orchids, higher 

 up only mosses. I found the summit of the highest mountain, Pidurutal- 

 lagalla (2,540 meters), covered with a kind of elfin-wood composed of 

 gnarled little rhododendron-trees. The vegetation of the drier eastern 

 slopes is more xerophilous, but otherwise unknown. 



vi. THE NILGIRIS. 



The ridge of the Nilgiri chain, 

 of which the highest peak is 2,690 

 meters, besides elfin-wood, also bears 

 alpine grasses. 



3. THE REGIONS IN 

 TROPICAL AFRICA. 



KILIMANJARO. 



Of African mountains, thanks to 

 the explorations of Volkens, Kili- 

 manjaro (6,010 meters) is by far the 

 best known, as regards both its 

 differentiation into belts of vegeta- 

 tion and also the character of these. 



The basal region and the tropical 

 part of the montane region are 

 covered by relatively poor, appar- 

 ently tropophilous or xerophilous, 

 forest. 



The temperate part of the mon- 

 tane region (1,800 or 1,900 meters 

 up to 2,600 or 3,000 meters) is much 

 rnoister, and, for the most part, is 

 covered by typical temperate rain- 

 forest, as appears from the following 

 description by Volkens 1 : — 



Fig. 431. Alpine flora of Java. Alchemilla 

 villosa. Alpine form. Summit of Widodaren, 

 East Java. 3,330 meters. Four-ninths natural size. 



'We cannot term it (the forest) specifically tropical, since palms and, above all, 

 lianes are wanting. Of the latter I have discovered only one, which climbs the 

 tallest trees and from their summits sends down cable-like stems, as thick as one's 

 arm ; this is Clematis sinensis, representing a genus including the traveller's joy 

 indigenous in our own northern forests. Some other lianes also occur, but most of 

 them are herbaceous species of Cissus and Convolvulaceae, which only twine round 

 the underwood. The loftiest climber is Begonia Me} r eri Johannis, the most beautiful 

 plant of the whole forest, for, when it flowers, the otherwise uniform green is studded 



1 Volkens. op. cit., p. 298. 



