6 THE FLORA OF MOUNT OPHIR, 



comparatively modern times been enormous and that the hills 

 now small and isolated were formally of much greater attitude 

 and formed part of a chain or extended range 



The Ophir flora may be divided into three elements; 1, a 

 purely Malayan element of lowland types which have ascended 

 the hills, and in some cases have been so far modified as to form 

 peculiar species ; 2, an alpine element characteristic of all our 

 hill ranges at this altitude, including- the following- plants, 

 Ilhcium, Rhododendron, Microtropis, Burmannia disticha, Diply- 

 cosia. Of what may be called the northern Alpine flora we 

 have only one example and that is a most remarkable one being 

 Linaria alpina, a plant once collected on the top by Mr. Hullett 

 and never found before or since. It is especially remarkable as 

 the plant has not been recorded from any other part of tropical 

 Asia, nor has any other species of the genus been met with in 

 the Malayan region even at much higher altitudes. The third 

 element is perhaps the most interesting-. It is the Australian 

 element, and is represented by the following genera and species. 

 .Boeckia, Leptospermum, Tristania, Leucopogon, Dianella, and most 

 remarkably in the case of the Cyperaceae, of which six species 

 occur here. One is a species of Scleria a genus of world wide 

 distribution Another a species of Fimbristylis which occurs 

 also in Ceylon and China, but the remaining four, are two species 

 of Gahnia, a Lepidosperma, both typical Australian genera, rnd 

 a remarkable Cladium apparently related more to a west Indian 

 plant them to anything else. 



This Australian element is not by any means confined to 

 Mount Ophir. It is to be found all along the mountain ridges 

 of the Malay Archipelago, gradually dying out as it goes west- 

 ward. It is also not exclusively to be found on the hill ranges 

 but occurs along the sandy coasts also. With the single exception 

 of Dianella, however, i t is completely absent from the forests of 

 the lowlands. The following is a list of typical Australian 

 genera of the peninsula to illustrate this peculiar element in our 

 flora. 



Boeckia, hills at 3000 — 4000 feet ; on the sea coasts in Ton- 

 ga nu and Borneo. 



Leptospermum, hills at 3000-4000 feet ; 



