1896. DISPERSAL OF SEEDS BY BIRDS. 191 



even more conspicuous. This occurs in Jackia ornata, Wall. 

 (Rubiaceae), and Medinilla Hasseltii, Bl. (Melastomaceae). 



One very simple way in which red and black are combined is 

 that the fruits pass through a red stage before turning eventually 

 black, and as they are not all equally ripe at the same time, the 

 different colours on the plant make it the more conspicuous. This is 

 well seen in Rhodamnia trinervia (Myrtaceae), and Gynotroches axillaris 

 (Rhizophoreae), common trees in open country. In the epiphytic 

 Heptapleiirum subulatum, the drupes pass from yellow to red and finally 

 to black, giving a very striking effect. Sometimes the rachis or 

 branches of the inflorescence are red, while the fruit is black ; 

 examples of this a.re Nenga Wendlandiana and Cyrtostachys Lakka, among 

 palms, and Phcebe opaca (Laurineae). Pterisanihes is a remarkable vine 

 which has the rachis developed into a thin flat lamina in which 

 the female flowers are embedded, the males being borne on stalks 

 on the edge. This lamina, when the plant is in fruit, becomes 

 of a bright-red colour, the grapes, which are sessile upon it, being 

 black. 



Sometimes the peduncle of the fruit is swollen and red, while the 

 fruit is black or brown. In these cases it is the peduncle which is 

 the eatable portion, the fruit or seed being protected in various ways 

 from injury by the disseminator. Such fruits are those of the well- 

 known cashew nut, Anacardium occidentale, L., a plant very commonly 

 dispersed by birds, and Semecarpus Anacavdium, L. In both of these 

 the testa of the seed is charged with a black acrid resin which protects 

 it from injury. Dehaasia (Laurineae), Podocarpus neriifolins, and 

 P. cupressinus are also examples of this colouring. Scleria malaccensis is 

 remarkable for being one of the few Cyperaceae modified for the 

 purpose of attracting birds ; in it the disc upon which the nut is seated 

 is enlarged into a red cup with lobed edges, while the nut is dark 

 brown or black. The combination of a red calyx with a black berry, 

 though not very common, is a very striking form of colouring. It 

 occurs in Clerodendron disparifoliutu, C. nutans, C. niyrmeccphilum, and 

 C. Siphonanthus. In these the calyx, which is green in the flower, 

 develops in fruit to a considerable size and becomes bright red, 

 spreading out so as to set off the black or deep black-green berry. 

 In C.ekgans the flowers, which are clustered in a head, are white with 

 red calyces, and the berries are black, so that the red calyx sets off 

 the white flower first, and is utilised also to show off the black fruit. 

 Ixora Clerodendron has the same arrrangement, and much resembles 

 C. elegans. 



One of the most remarkable modifications for dispersal that 

 occurs here is in the fruit of Erythropalum scandens, Bl. (Olacineae), a 

 climbing shrub usually to be found on the borders of jungles. The 

 drupe, which is about an inch long, is at first red ; when ripe the outer 

 coat splits into several lobes, which are recurved and resemble the 

 petals of some scarlet flower, while in the centre stands the single 



