CHAPTER XVII 



THE STORIES OF AFZELIA BIJUGA, ENTADA SCANDENS, AND 



CESALPINIA BONDUCELLA 



Afzelia bijuga. — The African home of the genus. — The double station of Afzelia 

 bijuga, inland and at the coast. — The nature of the buoyancy of its seeds. — 

 Summary relating to Afzelia bijuga. — Entada scandens. — Its station and 

 distribution. — Darwin's opinion of the plant. — The dispersal of its seeds by 

 the currents. — Summary relating to the plant. — Ca^salpinia bonducella and 

 C. bonduc. — Their station and distribution. — Their characters in various 

 Pacific groups. — The parents of inland species. — Their dispersal by the 

 currents. — The germination of their seeds. — A dream of vivipary. — The 

 causes of the seed-buoyancy. — Summary of results. 



In this chapter we have a study of Leguminous strand plants that 

 are of great interest. It can be safely said that the student of 

 plant-dispersal in the Pacific will be brought into contact with the 

 problems here involved wherever he goes. 



Afzelia bijuga (Gray). 



This Old World tree, which belongs to the sub-family Caesal- 

 piniae, is of great interest to the student of plant-dispersal. It is 

 one of that large group of Indo-Malayan plants that extend into 

 the Western Pacific, and give the prevailing character to the 

 floras of such archipelagoes as that of Fiji. It is a large tree yielding 

 a valuable timber used by the Fijians and Samoans for many 

 purposes, such as for canoes, house-posts, clubs, kava bowls, &c., 

 but it has not been recorded from the Tahitian region, and is 

 unknown from Hawaii. In the fact of its being a littoral as well 

 as an inland tree, it possesses a peculiar interest from the stand- 

 point of plant-dispersal, and especially since this difference in 

 station is associated with a difference in buoyancy, the seeds of the 



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