189 



lateral ones. As expansion continues, the red color is lost uni- 

 formly, the basal leaflets reach their normal proportions, the 

 internodes elongate, and the petioles stiff^en out, beginning at the 

 base, until the leaves have reached their normal position. 



In Brownea hybrida the red color is not lost uniformly, but 

 in patches, so that the leaf becomes mottled green and red. 

 The proportion of green increases as the leaf approaches maturity, 

 but the leaflets remain appressed to the rachis until they are 

 entirely green, and the whole leaf has reached its full size. 



In several legumes the young leaves are almost colorless, and 

 gradually assume the green color as they expand. In Cynometra 

 cauliflora they are pink, and as delicately colored and almost as 

 conspicuous as a cluster of flowers. 



These bunches of drooping young leaves do not terminate 

 every growing branch, but occur scattered here and there. On 

 one spreading tree of thirty feet in height there were, for example, 

 just six bunches. This indicates that, in Buitenzorg at least, 

 the new leaves appear at no one particular season, but throughout 

 the whole year. This is of course to be expected in a climate so 

 uniform as that of western Java, but is in marked contrast to 

 the obvious periodicity of vegetation in a region with sharply 

 differentiated wet and dry seasons. Amherstia nohilis, for il- 

 lustration, has large clusters of remarkably showy flowers, but 

 in Buitenzorg, where a few clusters are always present, they 

 attract no special attention. In Ceylon, however, where there 

 is a definite blooming period, the tree becomes a most striking 

 object when in full flower. 



Beyond the legumes, one enters a collection of monocoty- 

 ledonous plants, including the agaves, yuccas, dracaenas, and 

 pandans. The representation of Agave and Yucca is poor, as 

 might be expected in this humid climate, and offers nothing of 

 note, although a few species of the former are generally in bloom. 

 There are many species of Dracaena, affording one a better idea 

 of the' character of the genus than can be secured in an American 

 greenhouse. Most species, of course, have sparingly branched 

 stems, and their narrow foliage gives them a distinctly mono- 

 cotyl appearance. One species, on the contrary, has a freely 



