38 



in certain parts by stretches of short *Pteridium aquiliniini var. lanuginosum 

 or *Gleiclienia vulcanica, and in damper places dense mats of C&ilrolepis 

 novo-guineensis. 



Associated with the Cladonla were clumps of Riedelia montana var. 

 arfakeusis, and colonies of * Burmannia disticha and * Gahnia psittacorum, 

 the latter dwarfed to '50 in. high. Patersonia novo-guineensis in full flower, 

 the gleaming white or pale mauve corollas well exposed, was dotted in tufts 

 all along the summit, a most interesting first record of a genus known from 

 Kinabalu, Mt. Halcon in the Philippines, and Australia. 



A small example of the gi'eenPlatanthera elliptica was a remarkable find, 

 the species alone being previously known from S.W. New Guine;i, while 

 the two new varieties, so abundant in the moss-grown forest of the S.W. 

 ridge and the small high mossy forest-patch by the lower l:ike, were not seen 

 on the slopes of Koebre. Patches of the familiar D. rhomboglossum and 

 D. fruticicola, both as conspicuous as on the marsh, with the magenta 

 D. infractum, represented the terrestrial orchids in flower, with Glomera 

 Gibbsece epiphytic on the upper branches of a wind-swept shrub. 



Didiscus koebrensis with many radiating stolons, near a species already 

 collected on Mt. Scratch ley in the S.E. supposed to bo a variety of 

 I), sanicitlce/olius of Kinabalu and Mt. Halcon. Oldenlandia nutans var. 

 alpinum was dwarfed to '50 m. ]\]yrmedoi>ia arfakiana (PI. 3- fig. 6) with 

 its slate-blue flowers the size of a shilling, showing all round the formless 

 bristly steins, of which the fleshy consistency no doubt resists the fires, grew 

 in solitary examples, one of which, about a metre in height, sent out a metre- 

 long shoot from the apex at right angles to the main stem. 



Shrubs. The exposed and wind-swept character of this summit plateau 

 was shown in the shrubs, which either spread prostrate over the surface or 

 were clipped back into small compact shapes, Hibbertia novo-guineensis, a 

 plant with large flowers and spreading habit and very near to H. scandens 

 of E. Australia, is the first species in this genus, hitherto known from 

 A-Ustralia and New Caledonia, to be described for Malaya or New Guinea. 

 The ever-present *J3ceckea frutescens took on a prostrate form, Acronyclna 

 arfakensis, with insignificant white flowers and reddish fruit, was either pros- 

 trate or erect, while Myrtus prostrata, with reddish stems and small coriaceous 

 leaves, had developed quite dorsiventral shoots, resting on the ground. 



Small erect shrubs were *Bensloivia umbellata with yellow foliage, 

 Diplycosia Liltanete, and Vaccinium villosiftorum, while the dark green Tel- 

 mmt/iodia rotundifolia, the typical Styirtielia Gjellerupii, with white flowers 

 and pink berries, and another Styplielia sp., of which the material was not 

 sufficiently complete for identification, Rhododendron angiense, Sericolea 

 novo-guineensis with Psycliotria vaccinioides, were of clipped compact habit. 



A couple of small trees of Dacrydium novo-guineense dwarfed to about 

 4 111., with stiff, Araucaroid, ascending branches, bore many tiny ripe cones, 



