THE BOTANY OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND. 271 



are epiphytic plants, 7 orchids, and 10 ferns, the rest are small 

 low-growing terrestrial plants. All are either Javanese or 

 closely allied to Javanese species, but two ; Balanophora in- 

 sularis and Dendrocolla carinatifolia have hitherto been only 

 met with in the island of Pulau Aur off the East coast of the 

 Malay Peninsula. Balanophoras of this type however occur in 

 Tahiti, Salayer Island, Timor Laut, and the Comoro Islands. 

 They seem to be all insular and to occur only in the Southern 

 Islands in a line fringing the South of Asia and reaching to 

 Tahiti and Comoro respectively. The endemic species of dust 

 seed plants are 6 orchids and two ferns. 



Besides these there are a large number of cellular Crypto- 

 gams, most if not all brought to the island by the drifting of 

 their seeds in the wind. Two species of Peperomia also occur 

 the very small fruits of which may possibly have been blown 

 by the wind to Christmas Island. 



I have assumed that the epiphytic orchids have all reached 

 the island by their seeds, but it is quite possible that some of 

 them have been sea drifted to the Island. For in 1890 I saw 

 plants of Dendrobium Crumenatum apparently quite fresh and 

 green floating about in the sea off the coast of Banka and 

 Moseley (Notes by a Naturalist p. 368) mentions finding in 

 Little Ki Island an epiphytic orchid washed up by the sea in 

 a quite lively state. Most epiphytic orchids however are very 

 quickly killed by sea water. 



R A. Soc. No. 45. 19C6. 



