232 



Krakatao in 1908 and afterwards, may either have survived the 

 eruption in the form of seeds, rhizomes or spores or have been 

 introduced from elsewhere; possibly both cases have presented 

 themselves. It is very probable that most, if not all, epiphytic plants 

 were killed by the eruption; if their seeds or spores have not survived 

 (what nobody knows) they must have been introduced in some way or 

 other. It is very tempting to ascribe this introduction to direct 

 transport by the wind but as yet there exist no solid proofs for this 

 hypothesis; other ways are possible, though perhaps less probable. 

 Mr. Docters van Leeuwen does not give the names of the 

 ,,several orchids" which might be classed among the higher saprophy- 

 tes. All species recorded in his list of orchids in Appendix I possess 

 normal green leaves, consequently are no saprophytes or at best 

 hemi-saprophytes '). This can be ascertained only by an examination 

 of the roots, which seems not yet to have been carried out. It has, to 

 my knowledge, not yet been proven that the seeds of the terrestrial 

 orchids Spathog/ottis plicata Bl. and Arundina speciosa B/. in their 

 natural habitat cannot germinate without the aid of fungi. Neither 

 has it been proven that the seeds of these orchids have been carried 

 over to Krakatao in great numbers; this is but a bold hypothesis. Both 

 species are frequently autogamous ' 2 ), hence the numerous specimens 

 found in 1908 on Krakatao may quite well have originated from a single 

 specimen, even from a single seed of each. Nor is anything proven 

 about the supposed transport of the fungi which Mr. Docters van 

 Leeuwen supposes to live in symbiosis with them. The Loranthaceac 

 wich have been present at Krakatao before 1883 (see p. 16) were 

 certainly killed by the eruption or died soon afterwards, though seeds 

 may have survived. Though it is not proven that in 1919 they had 

 not yet reappeared only a small part of the island having been 

 investigated - we may believe that if they were present at all, they 

 were still far from common. The explanation of this fact given by 

 Mr. Docters van Leeuwen may be correct. 



17. In this paragraph Mr. Docters van Leeuwen discusses the mode of 

 transport of plants to Krakatao. Leaving man out of account, and at first he 

 of course contributed little or nothing, seeds and plants may be transported 

 by wind, by ocean-currents and by birds and bats. All these have done their 

 share. I r e u b and P e n z i g found chiefly such plants as were conveyed 

 by the sea and the winds. P e n z I g only mentions 4 species whose seeds 

 were probably conveyed across by birds. This is natural when one reflects that 



the barren naked island offered nothing in any way alluring to the birds 



*) The only saprophytic orchid found till 1919 on Krakatao is Eulophia macrorrhiza Bl. 

 (see p. 180) which is not mentioned by Mr. Docters van Leeuwen. 

 2 ) See p. 108, 



