TROPICAL FLORAS 49 



This may be considered a typical Malayan flora of the low- 

 lands, the mountains not being sufficiently extensive or lofty 

 to favour the abundance of Composita' found in Sikhini and 

 Burma; while the Anonacese (custard apples); the Lauracege 

 (true laurels), producing cinnamon, cassia, and many other 

 sj^ecies and odoriferous nuts, barks, and fruits, and, above 

 all, the noble order of Palms, which have alwavs been con- 

 sidered the most characteristic of the vegetable productions of 

 the tropics, all take a higher place than in any part of India. 

 Sir Joseph Hooker estimates the known, palms of Burma at 

 68, so that it is hardly probable that any future additions 

 will bring them to an equality with the much smaller Malay 

 Peninsula. This affords another illustration of the increase 

 in the number of species of Palms as we approach the equator, 

 and renders them, with the Rubiacese, the Euphorbiacese, and 

 the Orchids, the most typical of equatorial orders of plants. 



Through the kindness of Professor R. H. Yapp I am able 

 to give here two beautiful photographs taken by himself in 

 the Malayan forests, which give an excellent idea of the 

 general character of the vegetation, though unfortunately not 

 many of the trees or other plants shown can be identified; 

 but a few remarks may be made as to their general charao- 

 ter. 



Very prominent on the large trunk in the foreground is 

 the bird's-nest fern (Asplenium nidus), very common in the 

 forests and also in our hot-houses. Above it is a climbing 

 fern (AcrosticJium scandens). On the left is a light-coloured 

 slender tree with knobs or spines, and having many climbers 

 about it. This may be a palm. 



Among the tangled vegetation in every direction are slender 

 lines, upright, oblique, or beautifully curved; these are the 

 lianas or forest-ropes, many being rattans (palms), but others 

 belong to various dicotyledonous plants of many natural or- 

 ders; and these form one of the most constant and charac- 

 teristic features of the damp equatorial forests both in the 

 eastern and western hemispheres. The slender shrub to the 



