iv TROPICAL FLORAS 51 



neraceae, Pandanaceae, etc., almost all are so. Among species 

 of limited range some interesting facts have been ascertained 

 by Mr. Merrill. Of identical or closely allied species in 

 surrounding countries, 39 have been found to extend to 

 northern India, 38 to China, and 21 to Formosa, while only 

 9 have been noted in the nearer islands of Borneo, Java, and 

 Sumatra. But the most decided similarity is found between 

 the Philippines and Celebes, 76 species having been found 

 either identical or represented by allied species ; and, con- 

 sidering how very imperfectly the Celebesian flora is known, 

 the amount of similarity may be expected to be really very 

 much greater. A similar relation of the mammals, birds, 

 and insects of the two island groups have been pointed out 

 in my Island Life, and leads to the conclusion that these 

 islands have, at some distant period, been almost or quite 

 united. 



The Flora of Celebes 



Very little was known of the flora of this extremely 

 interesting island till 1898, when Dr. S. H. Koorders 

 published a large quarto volume of nearly 750 pages, giving 

 the results of his own collections during four months in the 

 north-east peninsula (Minahasa) together with all that had 

 been made known by the few botanists who had previously 

 visited the islands. 



Dr. Koorders himself collected or examined 1571 species, 

 of which nearly 700 were trees ; and he has given lists of 

 468 species which had been collected in various parts of the 

 island by other botanists, making a total of 2039 species of 

 flowering plants. The great peculiarity of the flora is 

 indicated by the fact that nineteen of the genera of trees 

 are not known in Java ; while the affinities are, on the 

 whole, more Asiatic than Australian, as is the case with the 

 animals. The closest affinity is with the Philippines (as 

 with the birds and mammals), indicated by two genera of 

 trees (Wallaceodendron and Reinwardtiodendron\ which are 

 found only in the two groups. Dr. Koorders also remarks 

 that some of the plants have very peculiar forms, almost com- 

 parable with those I have pointed out in its butterflies. One 

 of these is no doubt the new fig-tree (Ficus minahassa\ 



