igiS-] H. N. Ridley: Botany of Gunong Tahan. 193 



Abundant on the Padang in slightly damp spots. In 

 more shady spots the bracts are more green, and there is a 

 slight tendency to lengthening of the panicle. This species is 

 undoubtedly near to CI. undiUatum, Thw. {Tricostnlaria 

 finibristyloides, Benth.), but that is a much more elongate tall 

 plant forming great tussocks of long leaves in sandy spots at 

 Pekan, Setul, etc., and occurring in Ceylon. This plant is 

 short, dense and reduced, and has the habit of a rush, and 

 there are also distinct differences in the form of the glumes. 



Hi 270. Cladium Maingayi, Clarke. Very common on the 



Padang. Occurs also on Mt. Ophir and on Gunong Bubu in 

 Perak, otherwise only known from Celebes. 



\^m 271. Lepidospekma chinense, Nees. Common all over 



the Padang up to the summit of Gunong Tahan. Also occurs 

 in Mt. Ophir and Gunong Kerbau, collected by Mohammed 



\^^ Aniff at 7,000 feet elevation. 



\^m Distribution. South China. 



Hp The typical form with fairly stout glaucous stems, attain- 



ing a height of six feet, grows among Gleichenia and other 

 fairly tall plants in damp thickets as high as 7,186 feet altitude. 

 On the open bare Padang in cracks in rocks and among the 

 quartz-fragments grows another form extremely abundant, 

 much reduced, and dwarfed, for which I propose the varietal 

 name of var. alpina. Dwarf tufted plant, 6 to 8 inches tall; 

 stems rigid, obscurely angled, as are the leaves. Leaves 

 acute, almost pungent, nearly as long as the flowering stems. 

 Panicle an inch long, denser, with very short branches much 

 reduced. Hypogynous bristles ovate-acuminate, broader than 

 in the type. 



Very different in appearance and habit from the tall rush- 

 like type, with its terete, rather pithy stems, and elongate 

 slender panicle, 3 inches long, with branches of several 

 spikelets, but it seems only a dwarfed, stiffer, and reduced 

 alpine form. 



272. Rhynchospora glauca, Vahl. On slightly damp 

 spots on the Padang. A very slender form. 



Distribution. All the Tropics, except India. 



273. Gahnia javanica, Mor. antea, p. 60. Common on 

 the Padang. In open rocky spots it develops a stout ropelike 

 prostrate stem about 3 feet long covered with leaf-bases and 

 roots. This usually lies in a curve on the ground. The 

 inflorescence of this Padang form is thin and poor compared 

 to the robust panicles of the plants grown in better soil. 



Distribution. From Fiji and New Caledonia, through the 

 Malay Archipelago and Peninsula, to Kedah Peak, from 1,500 

 to 7,000 feet. And on Gunong Kerbau, Perak, 5,500-6,600 feet. 



274. Gahnia tristis, Nces. Not common here. It 

 occurs also on the ridges by Wray's Camp. This plant is 

 common near the sea-coast in Singapore, Johore, etc., and also 

 on the mountains of Ophir and Kedah Peak. 



