108 



River, then up the Teuibeliug aud Tahau Rivers, which latter stream 

 is reported to spring from the base of the mtmntaiii. 



lu 1898 Mr. H. M. Becher again attempted to reach the mouutaiu 

 bv the same route, but perished iu a spate of the Tahau River about 

 live miles above the poiut at Avhich the first expedition stopped. A few 

 j>laiits were added to the ct)llecti<»ns at Singapore Botanic Gardens by 

 the Gardens' ]tlant-collector, wlio accompanied Mr. Becher's ill-fated 

 expedition. 



In 1899 Mr. AV. \V. iSkeat, who went with the Cambridge expedition 

 to explore the north of the Peninsula, made a hasty trip to the mountain 

 from the north, and after much difficulty and risk reached it. 



In 1901 Mr. Juhu Waterstradt reached the mountain in a trip made 

 chiefly for the purpose of collecting birds. An account of his expedi- 

 tion was pul)lislied in the " Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society," 

 Straits Branch, vol. xxxvii. (1902) pp. 1-27. 



The collection of plants made by Messrs. Robinson and Wray is one 

 oi considerable intei'est, and contains a number of remarkable addi- 

 tions to the knowledge of the Flora of the Malay Peninsula. It has 

 long been known that the floras of the east and west coasts are very 

 dift'erent, the eastern side showing a number of Australian and eastern 

 Asiatic types not met with on the western side, the flora of which 

 is more accessible and has been more thoroughly studied. 



The greatest interest centres round the plants, the geographical 

 distriljution of Avhicli is further extended. Two of these are specially 

 noteworthy — viz., Penta])hylax mcdayana, n. sp., and Gentiana mala' 

 yana : the former is the second representative of a Chinese monotypic 

 genus of Ternstroemiacese previously known only from Hongkong ; the 

 latter is closely allied to a Boruean species occurring on Mt. Kinabalu 

 and to a Javan species. 



A curious new genus of Melastomaceie allied to Dissochceta, which 

 I have called Oritreph.es, is also an important addition. The genus 

 Xyris is represented in the Peninsula by several sea-shore 62>ecies, but 

 is seldom met with inland or at any altitude ; it is absent, so far as is 

 known, from the Perak Hills and Mount Ophir, but one species, 

 X. RicUeyi, was found by me on Kedah Peak at about 3,000 feet eleva- 

 tion. Two species occur on Gunong Tahan, one identical with that 

 from Kedah Peak, the other, X. grandis, n. sp., perhaps the largest 

 species of the genus, conspicuous from its stiff sword-like leaves resem- 

 bling those of Cladium Maiiujayi, C. B. Clarke, of Mount Ophir. 



There are, as usual in such collections, several species of Didymo- 

 ca/i'jjus, including two new to science, and a number of Orchids, a good 

 proportion of Avhich are also new. 



Among the previously described plants it is interesting to find 

 several of those known only from Father Scortechini's collections and 

 distributed without any specific locality. It is probable that as they 



