HISTORY OF SANTUBONG, SARAWAK. 27 
and there a Selaginella. It is a significant fact that in this 
heterogeneous but limited group of plants, a fair proportion 
are Australian types: the genera Baeckia, Leucopogon, Dianella, 
Corysanthes and Podocarpus are typically Australian. 
The Seashore Flora is of the same kind as that which 
covers the shores of the whole Malayan region. Here are 
to be found plants of very wide distribution, some being 
cosmopolitan in the Tropics and a fair number being Aus- 
tralian types: unlike the slope flora we do not find in this 
ssemblage of plants, whole groups of species which are 
closely related. The characteristic trees of the shore of 
this island are the Ru (Casuarina equisetifolia) the Baruk, 
(Hibiscus tiliaceus) the Ketapang (Terminalia catappa), the 
Engkarut (Barringtonia speciosa), the Arar jawi ( Ficus 
retusa)? Berambang (Canariuwm sp.) and Calophyllum ino- 
phyllum. 
Of smaller size are the Paku laut (Cycas circinalis), 
Clerodendron inerme, Vitex negundo, Premna integrifolia, Scy- 
phiphora hydrophyllacea, Allophylus cobbe, Scaevola koenzgi, 
Dodonaea viscosa, Pandanus fascicularis and the legumes 
Indigofera, Deemodium umbellatum, Derris sinuata, D. uligi- 
nosa and Guilaudina bonducella. Creeping on the sand is the 
beautiful convolvulus (Ipomaea pes-caprae) and one or two 
grasses and sedges—Thuarea sarmentosa, Cyperus bulbosus, 
Eleusine aegyptiaca and Remirea maritima. 
Stretching from this littoral region to the foot of the 
mountain there is on the west side of the island a sandy plain 
of no great area. This is occupied by a rank growth of grasses 
and sedges and ornamented by a few common lowland shrubs 
such as the ‘Simpor’ (Worma suffruticosa) with its showy 
yellow flowers, a Clerodendron conspicuous in its fruits, the 
ever flowering ‘ engkudok’ a Melastoma popularly known as a 
Rhododendron, and the common red flowered shrub Lantana 
camara, a native of South America: its blackberry-like fruits 
are much eaten by monkeys which no doubt effects its wide 
distribution in this country. 
Mangrove swamp. The southern half of the island is a 
mangrove swamp formed during the deposit of silt brought 
R. A. Soc., No. 51, 1908. 
