4 o2 A NATURALIST IN THE PACIFIC chap. 



its presence in the Pacific may be indicative of an ancient Western 

 Pacific continent. 



Hibbertia (Dilleniaceae) 



This genus of some eighty known species is almost entirely 

 Australian, with the exception of a few species found in New 

 Caledonia, Tasmania, and apparently also in the Mascarene 

 Islands. Home was the first to record a species from Fiji, where 

 it grows commonly in the " talasinga" plains on the lee sides of 

 the islands, and also on the scantily vegetated mountain summits. 

 In Vanua Levu I often found these plants growing on the rocky 

 peaks of the highest mountains of the island, as on Mbatini, 3,500 

 feet, and on Mariko, 2,900 feet. Their presence on these isolated 

 peaks can only be attributed to birds. The carpels contain one or 

 two seeds, which have a membranous aril ; but in the plains the 

 seeds are usually destroyed by grubs. 



Myrmecodia and Hydnophytum (Rubiaceae) 



These two genera of epiphytes, distributed over Malaya and 

 extending to the islands of the Western Pacific, possess tuber-like 

 stems, which are extensively chambered by ants that find a home 

 in the interior. They were familiar to me in the Solomon Islands, 

 where they frequently grow on the mangroves and on other littoral 

 trees. They do not form such a feature in the shore vegetation of 

 Fiji, and judging from the observations of Dr. Seemann and myself 

 they occur most often on the wooded mountain-peaks. The berries 

 of these plants would attract frugivorous birds ; and their pyrenes, 

 which in a Fijian Myrmecodia I found to be 4 millimetres long, 

 appear quite suitable for dispersal through this agency. It would 

 seem that germination may occur in the berry on the plant. A 

 specimen of Myrmecodia in fruit, that had been lying overlooked 

 for a fortnight between newspapers during one of my mountain 

 journeys, displayed on examination the pyrenes in a germinating 

 condition, the process being subsequently completed. The reader 

 will find these interesting plants described and illustrated in 

 the English edition of Schimper's work on Plant-Geography, 

 pp. 149, 150. 



Myristica 



The Nutmeg trees, though principally at home in Indo-Malaya, 

 are found also in the warm regions of Africa and America, as well 



