The trees always show dimorphic leaves, after the manner of 

 the American red cedar. The larger are nearly two inches long, 

 divaricately spreading, and more or less plagiotropic, forming a 

 flattened spray. The smaller are only half the size, ascending 

 and not at all plagiotropic. One tree of A. BidwelUi has on its 

 lower branches about equal numbers of each sort of leaf, arranged 

 in regularly alternating zones, while a second tree produces the 

 larger leaves almost entirely. Towards the top of the tree the 

 proportion of small leaves increases, and the long fallen twigs 

 are composed of them almost exclusively. It is dangerous to 

 hazard a guess as to the cause of the dimorphism, but it seemed 

 that it might represent the effect of the dry season on the shaded 

 branches. At this season at least all the branches were producing 

 the smaller leaves. 



There are several magnificent trees of the Kauri pine, Agathis 

 rohiista, with massive straight erect trunk and smooth grayish 

 brown bark. Some of them have a trunk diameter of six feet, 

 and a height of probably seventy-five feet. Their trunks are 

 strictly excurrent in habit, but are occasionally branched. The 

 branch rises so nearly vertically beside the trunk that it may be 

 ten feet or more from the point of origin to its final separation. 



A staminate tree of Lodoicea seychellarum, with trunk a foot 

 in diameter and eighteen feet high, was blooming early in March. 

 The spikes of flowers are two feet long, with short projecting 

 clusters of yellow-brown stamens. 



There is an excellent specimen of the banyan, Ficus altissima, 

 showing in an interesting fashion the production of prop roots. 

 The mature prop roots seldom show any evidence of fusion or 

 branching, at least externally. Yet the young roots before 

 reaching the ground are freely branched, forming a tangled sheaf 

 of slender (2 mm.) rootlets, swaying in the wind, and with their 

 terminal growing points at about the same level. These tips 

 are easily injured, for which reason they are frequently protected 

 by enclosure in a section of bamboo. After they once establish 

 themselves, usually several at a time, fusion takes place, and the 

 growth in thickness must be very rapid, as small prop roots are 

 seldom seen. 



