37 



ccerulea, Riedelia orchioides, '75 in. high with red perianth-segments and 

 red-tipped lip, replaced, where the sandy ground was more exposed, by 

 the creeping *Isachne miliacea, * Centella asiatica, *G<tlium javanicum var., 

 and the fleshy-leaved *Mycetia javanicum var. anthotricha. 



Shallow Standing Water. 



Behind this fringing bank, where the level was lower, sandy shallow 

 basins of standing wsiter held the nlgse *Microspora pachyderma, Spirogyra 

 sp. sterile, *Netrium oblongum, and a Penium sp.. possibly a form of 

 P. phymatosporum, surrounded with patches of * Spliaqnum Junghuhnianum, 

 Dawsonia gigantea, to be succeeded by *Hypericiim mutilum, Halorrhagis 

 micrantha, * Centella asiatica, * II ydrocotyle vulgaris, abundant here, *Poly- 

 gonum barbatum and *P. strigosum, the white * Viola distans, *Galium 

 javanicum var., * Bidens bipinnatus, and * Emilia sonchifolia. 



Grass-jungle on Edge of Forest. 



Growth on the edge of the forest as it ran on to the marsh was always 

 rampant, and this was especially the case to the south side of the isolated 

 forest-patch, where, meeting over one's head, the tangled mass of fern, sedge, 

 and shrubs had to be forced aside to penetrate into it. 



Amongst the herbaceous growth * Stenochla>na sorbifolia, *Gleichenia 

 vulcanica, and Oleandra cuspidata were common all round, the scrambling 

 *Gleichenia Icevigata abundant in the open to under the trees, *G. glauca up 

 to 6 m. \\ith *G. linearis, *Cladium falcatum, * Gahnia psittacorum up to 

 2 m., Halorrhagis sujfruticosa, Uldenlandia nutans, and Coleus Gibbsece, all 

 drawn up to the level of their environment, with the shrubs Medinilla 

 Forbesii, * Mclast oma malabathricum var. adpressum, the lanky single shoots 

 of young plants of Poikilogyne arfakensis, Rhododendron Devriesianum, 

 It. Ict'tum, and the pink R. undulaticalyx. The gregarious Sccevola Lauter- 

 hachU, with long semi-scandent shoots, shining leaves, and for the genus 

 large yellow flowers, known hitherto from N.E. New Guinea, dominated in 

 the tangled mass of fern and sedge. 



c. OPEN SUMMIT OF KOEBRK MOUNTAIN, 9000'. 

 Cladonia Association. 



The open summit of Koebre forms a flat plateau with a hard surface of 

 disintegrated quartz-granite on which quartz-gravel lies so thickly that it 

 gives quite a white effect. Where the rock is exposed it snows as large a 

 proportion of quartz-veins as of granite. 



Herbaceous plants. On this open plateau, for which systematic burning 

 is again responsible, a remarkable association of Cladonia spp. prevailed, 

 spreading over the whole area as a uniform grey carpet, about 3 cm. high, 

 composed of * Cladonia verticillata, *C. didyma, and *C. cocci/era, displaced 



