204 
looking like a disorganized poplar about 50 or 60 feet tall. Its 
fragrant flowers open after dark and fall before 7 a.m. 
The Lankawi islands whence Curtis brought so many fine things 
are obviously a continuation of this main mass of limestone hills an 
their flora is also not Malayan and very similar. e seas off 
Setul and Perlis are very shallow and obviously silting up, and in 
time I should think the Lankawi islands would be standing in a silt 
plain like that surrounding the limestone hills of Perlis and Setul. 
h : 
e Malayan flora then ceases about Gunong Terai. North of — 
that is Siamese flora. It should be mentioned too that there is not 
only a distinct change of rock from granite to sandstone and lime- 
stone but of climate also, as there is a more distinct dry season north 
of Penang, both of which factors have undoubtedly an influence on 
the flora. 
This is a long letter, but I thought you would like to have details 
of this curious change of flora. I have not yet begun to work out — 
the collections, which are pretty big, so that there will be many 
more Indo-Siamese things to record. The season had been very 
dry, and many things perhaps had quite disappeared, which in the 
wet season we should have got. 
_ By the way I never saw anything like the Haemaria discolor on 
some of the limestone rocks. We crept through a tunnel in one of 
the hills and found ourselves in a large circular space surrounded 
by lofty precipitous walls, and on the sides and fallen slabs of rock 
the Haemaria formed dense mats many feet across. The whole 
place was red with it. 
* z od * cd 2 
Henry N. RIp.eEy. 
Jequié Manigobas.—In the Kew Bulletin, 1908, pp. 59-68, an 
account was given of the three new species of Manihot from Bahia 
discovered and described by Dr. Ule. In the course of the 
same year a large quantity of the seeds of two of these species, 
M. dichotoma and M. piauhyensis, was obtained from Brazil and 
distributed to botanical and agricultural stations in the tropics 
(K.B., 1908, p. 451). Several reports have been received as to the 
germination of the seed. In nearly every case the percentage of 
germination of the seeds of M. dichotoma was fairly high, but the 
results with M. piauhyensis were not so favourable, except apparently 
in the case of the seeds sown in the Botanic Station, a Lucia, 
W. Indies, where the seeds were slightly filed near the hilum and 
about 25 per cent. germinated . Lucia, Botanic Station Report, 
1908-09, p. 4). Krom Borneo we were informed at the beginning 
of this year that plants raised from the seed sent in 1908 and sown 
early in December were planted out when about 10 in. high ; at the 
time of writing (Jan. 1910) the trees of M. dichotoma were 5 ft. high, 
some having a girth of 4in. The young plants of M. piauhyensis, 
though not so tall are stated to be larger in girth. 
Some interesting information as to the growth of the new 
Manihots in Ceylon has been given in the T'ropical Agriculturist 
for May and-November, 1909, The plants sent out in May, 1907 
1 
