214 



At 1 1 o'clock a point was reached where a change in the 

 composition of the forest became perceptible; Ficus ribes i.a. grew 

 more frequent. As the height of this point is not given and nothing 

 is told about the composition of the lower part of the forest exam- 

 ined that day, this statement does not make us much the wiser. But 

 perhaps it is implied that the composition of this forest was about 

 the same as of that examined the previous day (See 5, p. 207), for 

 which however Ficus ribes is not recorded. The statement that in 

 )ava Villebrunea rubescens more properly belongs to the mountainous 

 zone is not quite correct; it is apparently based on confusion of human 

 influences with natural ones. This species is a rather common forest- 

 plant in regions where the cast- monsoon is feeble; there it is found 

 from the plains up to rather high in the mountains. But in the lower 

 parts of l<j\'a such forests, as a rule, have been destroyed by man. 

 Hence it seems to the insufficiently trained explorer that this plant 

 belongs, i.e. is by Nature restricted to the mountainous zone. But 

 where primeval or old secondary rain-forests are present in constantly 

 moist regions Villebrunea is often frequent at low altitudes. Ficus 

 ribes, a small tree, requiring like Villebrunea a feeble east-monsoon 

 is spread throughout Java but especially in the western and central 

 parts between 100 and 1600 m. in moist forests. It is certainly much 

 more common in the mountains than in the lower regions, but yet 

 it has at several places been found at altitudes beneath 600 m. 

 Koorders and Valeton 1 ) mentioned this species already a 

 quarter of a century ago for altitudes of 100 m. Therefore it may 

 hardly be called a typical mountain-tree. This denomination I should 

 wish to reserve for such species as are exclusively found on the 

 mountains above an altitude of 600 m. 



It is certainly remarkable that Cyrtandra su/cata was so very 

 common. It would be of interest to investigate which was the cause 

 of this phenomenon. This seems not to have been done. In Appendix 

 I to his paper Mr. Docters van Leeuwen affirms that the plant 

 is spread by animals, but it does not appear that this assertion is 

 based on actual observation; it is probably only deduced from the fact 

 that Cyrtandra has fleshy fruits. Even if animals were observed to eat 

 the berries, this would not yet furnish proof that only they are the 

 agents of dispersal of the minute seeds. Ripe berries frequently fall 

 off and rot away; rainwater may spread the free-coming seeds. In a 



] ) Bijdrage XI tot de Kennis der Boomsoorten van Java (Contribution XI to the 

 Knowledge of the Javanese Trees) 1906, p. 203. 



