IN BORNEAN FORESTS [chap. 



Next morning we sallied forth in search of the desired rotang, 

 following up the course of a small torrent, the Skajan, on a hill which 

 bears the same name. After about an hour's walk, we came across 

 quite a number of specimens of the plant I was in search of. Few, 

 however, bore fruits. The rotang jernang is a Dcemonorops, to which 

 I have given the name of D. Draconcellus, having found that it 

 differs somewhat from D. Draco, which produces the dragon's blood 

 in Sumatra, as well as from other allied species (D. micr acanthus, 

 Griff., and D. propinquus, Becc), from which the same drug is 

 extracted in the Malay Peninsula. 



Dragon's blood is a resin used as varnish, of the characteristic 

 red colour found on the scales which cover the fruits of rotangs, 

 especially when immature, for in ripe fruits the resinous exudation 

 gets brittle and easily falls off. The drug is only got from the fruits, 

 and not by incisions in the stem, as has been asserted. The 

 gummy sap which exudes from the cut stems is white and milky. 

 The canes or stems of this rotang are of the thickness of the little 

 finger, and of good quality; indeed, amongst the best for the many 

 uses for which the stems of other Calami are employed. But the 

 species is mainly grown for the sake of the fruits, for the dragon's 

 blood which is got from them is a far more valuable product than 

 the canes. Only old specimens which have reached the tops of 

 the trees bear flowers. One which I measured was nearly a hun- 

 dred feet in length. It is a dioecious species, the male and 

 female flowers being on different individuals. 



On the Skajan hill this rotang was abundant, but extremely 

 localized, for I never met with it elsewhere, nor did I see it again 

 during the present excursion. I found two varieties, one with 

 round, the other with oblong fruits. On the same hill grew some 

 very tall liran (Pholidocarpus majadum, Becc), one, I reckoned, 

 could hardly have been less than 130 feet in height. This palm, 

 which reminds one of a Livistona, has a stem resembling that of the 

 coconut, but more slender, and its wood is much harder. The 

 leaflets of its fan-shaped fronds are used for making ataps, which 

 are said to resist the effects of weather much better than those made 

 with the leaves of the nipa and sago palms. 



In the small ravines along the streams, where rich humus had 

 accumulated for centuries, and where the vegetation was more 

 luxuriant, with the densest shade and reeking dampness perennial, I 

 found some very extraordinary species of Fungi, which, unfortunately, 

 I could not preserve. Amongst others I noticed a fleshy Polyporus 

 with the stalk gradually widening into an umbrella about two hands- 

 breadths in diameter, slightly convex above, and of a rusty yellow 

 colour, whilst the under surface (hymenium) had short white tubes. 

 I also found a Cordyceps — a kind of mushroom — about eight inches 

 in height, ramified like the antlers of a stag, which grew from the 



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