MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. . 241 



No. V.— Pinus Merkusii. * 



In his introduction to " On plants from South Annam " Vol. 

 IV. No. 3 page 114 of this Journal, Kloss denies the occurrence of 

 Pinus in the Malay Peninsula " even if we consider this peninsula 

 to commence, as we must if we want to be accurate, at the head of 

 the Gulf of Siam i. e. in Lat. N. 13° 30'." 



In Vol. I of this Journal page 35, I recorded that " at Khao 

 Pa Lai, south-west of Petchaburi, I found Pinus Merkusii at an 



elevation of 400 metres growing on bare expcsecl ridges etc 



but the trees were stunted and small, having a diameter of only 

 one-third that given by Brandis." This was in Lat. N. 12° 50', but 

 surve3 , ors of my party reported that this pine grew in the area to the 

 South, approximately Lat. N. 12° 30'. 



Khao Pa Lai is outlined on the map facing page 130, Vol. I. 

 of this Journal and is an isolated range situate in the most southerly 

 bend of the Petchaburi river near the Karen village of Song Pi Nong. 

 At the time I noted in Brandis that " the biggest tree seen measured 

 58 inches circumference and others of three feet were seen growing 

 on bare slopes from 600 up to 1300 feet elevation." 



Since recording the above I have seen P. Merkusii on Doi 

 Sutep, Chiengmai, at 3800 to 4500 feet elevation on granite. It is 

 also distributed in the forest in which I am stationed here in Raheng 

 (Lat. N. 17° Long E. 99°) growing on shale and granite at 1300 to 

 2500 feet, and on granite to 3600 feet where the drainage is good. 



Lack of humus, drainage, and probably also absence of jungle 

 fires have, I think, more to do with the distribution of this pine than 

 has elevation, as in the three areas mentioned it grows on knife-edge 

 ridges or steep hillsides affording little lodgment for dead leaves, 

 grasses, or other inflammable material. On the Tenasserim side from 

 Moulmein or Myawaddy (Brandis southerly record) southwards, the 

 rainfall is probably too heavy for pines, whereas for Raheng district 

 it is only 41 inches. 



K. G. Gairdner. 

 March. 1922. 



* Siamese = Ton son. Laos= Ton kiah. 



VOL. IV, NO. 4, 1922. 



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