Edam, Island 11 



of independent assimilation and grows impartially on nearly all the 

 plants of the strand vegetation. The interior of the island is occupied 

 by a thicket of various trees and shrubs. With Phyllanthus Embliea 

 and PhyUanthus simplex occurs Acalyphe indica, another repre- 

 sentative of the family Euphorbiaceae which is rich in halophilous 

 species ; also the leguminous plants, Bauhinia Blaucoi and Leucaeuo 

 glaum, the young fruits and ripe seeds of which are eaten by natives 

 in the Archipelago as a relish with their meals of rice. The ground 

 is covered with herbaceous plants, bushes and shrubs, principally of 

 the families Gramineae, Cyperaceae, Compositae, Labiatae, and 

 Leguminosae. Our guide warned us to be careful in entering the 

 bush, as in addition to the large but harmless snake, Pi/thon 

 reticularis, which reaches a length of 3 to 4 metres, some smaller 

 poisonous species are also met with. 



The south coast of the island is flat and sandy. A broad belt 

 is covered with a low and almost shrubless vegetation, of which the 

 two characteristic plants are Spinifex squarrosus and Ipomaea Pes- 

 caprae. Each of these is admirably adapted to a strand habitat. 

 Spinifex squarrosus is a stiff bluish glistening grass with tufts of 

 rounded and sharply pointed leaves bound together by tough runners 

 hidden in the sand. The low form of growth, the anchoring of the stems 

 in the loose sand by deep roots, are adaptations to a habitat exposed 

 to frequent and strong winds. 



The conditions, which are unfavourable for vegetative develop- 

 ment, have been utilised in a remarkable manner by Spinifex for the 

 dispersal of its fruits. The fruiting shoots are very large and com- 

 pletely spherical. The spikelets are crowded in the centre of a ball as 

 large as a man's head at the base of long stiff axes which spread out on 

 all sides like bristles (PL VII., fig. 10). The ripe fruiting shoots fVdl off 

 and are rolled as light balls 1 over the sand until they attach themselves 

 to other plants or become the sport of the waves. Some of these 

 small fruits are detached during the process, while others remain 

 fixed to the shoot for a longer period and with it are carried by the 

 wind over wide stretches of the beach or transported by currents 

 to other islands. Single shrubs and taller herbaceous plants appear 

 above the groups of Spinifex squarrosus, Ipomaea Pes-eaprae, and 

 Ipomaea Pes-tigridis ; of these the most striking are the abundant 

 and handsome plants of Taeea pinnatijida with its two to four large 

 umbrella-like leaves and strong reproductive shoots. 



1 Goebel, K. Pflamenbiologische Schilderungen, Bd. i. 1889, p. 135. The 

 peculiar method of dispersal of these fruiting branches is well known to the 

 Javanese. The Malay name for the plant is djoekoet lari fori, that is "running 

 grass" (Miquel, loc. cit. in. p. 474). 



