CHAPTER XVII 



THE STORIES OF AFZELIA BIJUGA, ENTADA SCANDENS, AND 

 (LESALPINIA BONDUCELLA 



Afzelia bijuga. The African home of the genus. The double station of Afzelia 

 bijuga, inland and at the coast. The nature of the buoyancy of its seeds. 

 Summary relating to Afzelia bijuga. Entada scandens. Its station and 

 distribution. Darwin's opinion of the plant. The dispersal of its seeds by 

 the currents. Summary relating to the plant. Cassalpinia bonducella and 

 C. bonduc. Their station and distribution. Their characters in various 

 Pacific groups. The parents of inland species. Their dispersal by the 

 currents. The germination of their seeds. A dream of vivipary. The 

 causes of the seed-buoyancy. Summary of results. 



IN this chapter we have a study of Leguminous strand plants that 

 are of great interest. It can be safely said that the student of 

 plant-dispersal in the Pacific will be brought into contact with the 

 problems here involved wherever he goes. 



AFZELIA BIJUGA (Gray). 



This Old World tree, which belongs to the sub-family Caesal- 

 piniae, is of great interest to the student of plant-dispersal. It is 

 one of that large group of Indo-Malayan plants that extend into 

 the Western Pacific, and give the prevailing character to the 

 floras of such archipelagoes as that of Fiji. It is a large tree yielding 

 a valuable timber used by the Fijians and Samoans for many 

 purposes, such as for canoes, house-posts, clubs, kava bowls, &c., 

 but it has not been recorded from the Tahitian region, and is 

 unknown from Hawaii. In the fact of its being a littoral as well 

 as an inland tree, it possesses a peculiar interest from the stand- 

 point of plant-dispersal, and especially since this difference in 

 station is associated with a difference in buoyancy, the seeds of the 



