43 



I am very sceptical as to the possibility of the coco-palm being 

 spread by the sea over large distances, which has not been proven 

 by a single reliable observation. It is impossible to make out, without 

 minute investigations, whether a tree, apparently growing spontaneous- 

 ly, was not planted originally near a settlement that was afterwards 

 deserted by man and swallowed up by jungle. In the tropics such 

 often happens in thinly populated regions. 



4. Pandanus spec. 



On and near the Dutch East-Indian beaches occur, as far as is 

 known at present, 7 species of Pandanus, most commonly the very 

 polymorphous P. tcctorius So/., further P. andamanensium Kurz, - P. 

 bidur lungh., - P. dubius Sprung, - P. labyrinthicus Kurz, - P. po/yce- 

 phalus L<jmL and P. nitklus Kurz, the last one but rarely. The dispersal 

 of these species is brought about by the fruits, which may be carried 

 along either by water (sea-currents, tidal streams) or by animals. It has 

 not been proven that animals carry the fruits from one island to 

 another. It seems that T r e u b, who mentioned this genus twice in 

 the record of the fruits found by him, has found the fruits of 2 

 species of Pandanus (or fruits which he meant to belong to 2 species), 

 both in a single specimen. All plants of Pandanus found until 

 now on Krakatao belonged to Pandanus tectorius So/. (P. littoralis 

 Jungh.). In the western part of the East Indian Archipelago this is 

 by far the most common species of the genus on sandy beaches; 

 its fruits ') are very often found washed ashore and seedlings also 

 are quite common. 



5. Barringtonia speciosa Forst. (5 specimens). 



This species, at the present time named B. asidtica Kurz, is a 

 tree of sandy, especially coralligenous or calcareous beaches, locally 

 often occurring in great numbers but which may also be entirely 

 lacking, even in the formation named by Schimper after it. As 

 a rule it is in Java much less common than Termina/ia catappa L. 

 The reproduction is effected exclusively by fruits -) which possess 

 floating power and are frequently found washed ashore. The beaches 

 of Krakatao form a very fit habitat for this species which was found 

 there at several excursions. 



1 ) Described by ScKimper, Indo-Malayische Strandflora (1891), p. 177. tab. VII, 

 fig. 12a, 12b. 



2 ) Described by Scliimper. Indo-Malayisclie Strandflora (1891), pp. 17'2 and 184, 

 tab. VII, fig- 3 under the name of B- speciosa. 



