THE FLORA OF SINGAPORE. 31 



have a very different appearance from those of the more tem- 

 perate zones, which frequently consist of but one or two kinds. 

 The contrast is well seen in comparing' the English flora with 

 that of Singapore. In Singapore with an area of 200 square 

 miles we have over 1,900 species of flowering plants, while the 

 flora of the British Isles with an area of 121,115 square miles 

 produces but 1,200 species, while of ferns we have here over 

 130 species, nearly double the number in Europe, and more than 

 three times the number in the British Isles. 



Seasons-. There is no great amount of difference in the 

 rainfall throughout the year, although as a rule heavier falls 

 occur in December and January than at other times, so that 

 plants here have no definite resting periods and are nearly all 

 truly evergreen. Certain plants, however, such as Craioxylon 

 fornwswn and Fieus Miquelii shed all their leaves at tolerably re- 

 gular intervals, remaining quite bare for one or two days, when 

 the young shoots begin to unfold, and in a few days they are 

 quite leafy again. This change is often but not always follow- 

 ed immediately by the appearance of the flowers, and often the 

 young leaves thus produced are of a brighter green, or brilliant 

 red, orange, white or blue. This change takes place usually 

 three or four times a year, and every tree of the kind in the 

 district undergoes the change on the same day. It is not till 

 we get north of Penang that we find a definite period of rest in 

 which all or almost all plants shed their leaves altogether and 

 become quite I are. A good series of observations on these 

 phrenological phenomena would probably throw light on the 

 causes of these irregular seasons. 



Very few plants have a definite flowering month. A large 

 number flower more or less steadily throughout the year. 

 Others flower at regular periods three or four times a year, 

 almost every plant of a given kind flowering simultaneously in 

 the district. This is best known in the case of the Pigeon orchid. 

 Dendvobium crumenatum. In this plant the flowers are produced 

 at periods of a little over a month, or two months. The exact 

 day differs in different parts of the peninsula, but in each district 

 they all appear in the same day, and it is remarkable that plauts 

 brought to Singapore even from as far north as Siam open their 

 flowers on the day for Singapore, aud not on that for Siam. It 



