CH. Ill 



LOCALITY 55 



unevenly, and the wood will form more rapidly on the 

 sheltered side than on that exposed to the wind. 

 Sudden hurricanes, which are liable to come on in 

 many places in the Tropics, are liable to do more 

 actual damage than constant winds, and will take 

 advantage of any gap in a forest to cause havoc among 

 the trees by throwing them down or breaking them ; 

 and, where they are bound to other trees by great 

 liana ropes, they will in their fall drag others with 

 them, which in their turn will tear others down. In 

 such places it is desirable to have as complete a leaf- 

 canopy as possible, and that the trees be mostly shade 

 enduring, in order that their seedlings may make a 

 start under their shelter. The following remarks about 

 the evergreen forests of Mauritius, which are liable to 

 visits of hurricanes, will be of interest here : l 



" By the compactness of their growth and a certain 

 special development they bid defiance to the hurricanes 

 which now and then visit the island ; and though indi- 

 vidual trees, composing the mass of vegetation, may, 

 owing to the little hold they have upon the soil, be over- 

 turned by the mere weight of a man leaning against 

 them, yet owing to the stillness of the air, which at all 

 times prevails within the forests and is so maintained by 

 the impenetrable mass, the most fragile twig is as safe 

 from injury from strong and violent winds, as it would 

 be, were it growing in a well-constructed hothouse." 



The wind has also to be considered as a factor in 

 the pollination of certain plants. As regards forest 

 trees this is particularly noticeable in the dispersion 

 of pollen of the Conifers and Bamboos, the pollen of 

 which is carried by the wind. Certain trees also provide 

 themselves with wings for their fruit or seed which 

 thus get distributed by the wind. Many of the Diptero- 

 carps, as the name of their order indicates, have wings 

 attached to their fruit, e.g. Dipterocarpus, Hopea ; 

 most species of Shorea and Doona have two or more 

 wings, sometimes several inches long, formed by the 



1 R. Thompson, Report on the Forests of Mauritius, 1880. 



