NEW OR RARE MALAYAN PLANTS. 3 



are strongly winged for the whole length. This broad green 

 wing encloses tightly the bud and protects it from injury from 

 rain, till it is sufficiently strongly developed to separate the 

 wings and appear. There are several species ranging from 

 the Malay Peninsula to Australia, which have this curious 

 arrangement. The others mostly trees have simple unwinged 

 petioles. 



Of the wing-stalked species we have two in the Peninsula, 

 viz. W. suffruticosa, Griff, and W. subsessilis, Miq., to which 

 group may be added, IV. Burbidgei of Borneo, W. alata of 

 Australia, and probably IF. Beccariana, (Borneo), W. auri- 

 culata, (New Guinea) and some others. 



Of our two species in the Flora of British India Vol. I, 

 p. 35, and also in King's Materials Vol. I, p. 8, W. suffruticosa 

 is made synonymous with IF. subsessilis, Miq. Martelli fol- 

 lows this and adds localities from Borneo (Kuching Sarawak) 

 and suggests that W: Burbidgei of Borneo is probably the same 

 thing. The first two species however are quite distinct from 

 each other, always keeping so far as I have seen their charac- 

 teristics true and not mixing. 



If. Burbidgei, Hooker is a rather puzzling plant. It is 

 based on a plant brought by Burbidge from Borneo and 

 figured in the Botanical Magazine t. 6531. It has smaller 

 and paler flowers than most species. No one seems to have 

 met with it again, and the figure in the Botanical Magazine 

 suggests that it is a deteriorated plant of one of this group, 

 affected by its cultivation in the houses at Kew Gardens. 



Pound Kuching however lie big swamps in which amon 

 other splendid flowers, grows a plant like a glorified II 

 suffruticosa. Like IT. subsessilis it forms tall and dense 

 thickets layering itself by its branches in the water, but it is 

 taller and is especially conspicuous from the great size of its 

 flowers considerably bigger than those of IF. suffruticosa, its 

 very large leaves more strongly dentate, and its white not 

 pink fruit. This is probably the plant referred to by Martelli 

 as W. suffruticosa. It might be classed as a variety of IF. 

 suffruticosa var. borneensis. 



R. A. Soc, No. 54. 1909- 



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