56o 



Marvels of the Universe 



great loops like enormous 

 cables, loops on which it is very 

 tempting for the native boy or 

 the light-hearted traveller to 

 swing himself, were it not that 

 he never knows what his pull 

 may dislodge on his unfortu- 

 nate head in the way of cata- 

 racts of leaves and heavy 

 branches, or swarms of biting 

 ants. 



The flowers of these Landol- 

 phias are deliciously scented. 

 They are usually white, with a 

 golden centre, and not unhke 

 in shape the flowers of the 

 periwinkle. The foliage which 

 grows out of these Lianas is a 

 glossy dark-green, and the 

 fruits are large and sometimes 

 brightly coloured. Not all the 

 Landolphias yield valuable 

 rubber, but most of them do. 

 And this rubber is a sticky sap 

 (known scientifically as latex), 

 which flows from the lining 

 between the outer bark and 

 the inner core of woody fibre. 

 The natives are usually too 

 impatient now to obtain the 

 rubber by scoring the bark 

 here and there and letting the 

 latex drip into a little vessel. 

 They prefer to cut the Lianas 

 up in sections, strip off the bark and bast, and boil this till they extract the viscid latex. In 

 one way and another these Lianas are being rapidly destroyed in the search for wild rubber, and 

 very little effort is made to replace these creepers by sowing their seed. It is conceivable, therefore, 

 that before many years are over these remarkable Lianas will cease to be a striking feature in 

 the Equatorial forests of Africa. 



Liana, however, is a common name for many quite unrelated plants, the native or traveller 

 not troubling himself, as a rule, with questions of natural affinity. The feature that strikes 

 him and leads to his scheme of classification is not the structure of the flowers and fruits, such as 

 the botanist would look to, but the fact that their stems have developed into natural ropes and 

 cables. There is a necessity for this style of growth imposed by the forest conditions. Every 

 green plant must have light, some demanding more than others, and if they cannot get it, 

 they die. A place in the sun is not a mere pleasure or luxury, it is a necessity ; and there 

 is in the forest — especially the tropical forest, with its continuous and rampant growth — a 

 keen struggle for light and existence always going forward. This is a thing that most people 

 find hard to realize. That animals should fight among themselves for mastery and sustenance 



I'luilo 4;/] [,s-,)- //. 11. Johnston, G.C.il.a. 



THE RUBBER LIANAS OF THE UGANDA FOREST. 



TKese Rubber "vines" climb over big trees, sometimes reaching as High as 

 two hundred feet. The rubber is a sticky sap flowing between the outer barU and 

 the inner core of woody fibre 



