46 A BOTANICAL EXCURSION TO PULAU ADANG. 
A pretty slender bamboo of a new species abounded here, and 
flowering specimens were obtained later. Dillenia aurea, Sm., was 
in flower but as usual at that time nearly leafless. In the evening 
we went ashore at Pulau Butong and found Prismatomeris albidi- 
flora in full flower, a beautiful little shrub Memecylon with charm- 
ing little blue flowers and a Bombax, quite a small tree, in fruit. 
Cordia subcordata is abundant on the ‘seashore here. 
21st April:—We went to the bay we were in at Pulau Rawi 
yesterday and followed the stream up nearly to its source, pushing 
through the low swampy woods or wading along the stream bed. 
There is a patch of mangrove in Aes river mouth. Oncosperma 
filamentosa and a large species of Pinanga forming big clumps 
(P. adangensis) are abundant in the low swampy w oods. 
The river sandy, at the mouth becomes rocky higher up with 
large masses of hornblende, granite and sandstone. The flora of 
these rocks is rather poor considering the altitude we got to. A 
dwarf Ophiorrhiza, Begonia sinuata, Podochilus lucescens are the 
most noticeable plants. 
The “ Seabelle ” moved from her anchorage in Rawi bay and 
picked us up at 2 o’clock and we moved on to Pulau Adang where 
we went on shore in a beautiful bay with a large sized stream 
entering it. A very big Dracaena about fifty feet tall and much 
branched with erect branches occurred here and was in fruit. It 
appeared to be a very large state of Dracaena aurantiaca, Wall.. 
but I never before saw one so large. A single tree of Casuarina 
equiselifolia grew in this bay, and we found seedlings in Rawt bay. 
The tree was very abundant at the east end of the island forming 
a regwuar wood, and also on the opposite island of Pulau Nipis. 
These trees have a habit of growing so regularly spaced that they 
often quite look as if they had been planted. The sand beneath 
is almost bare of vegetation. From the distance of the, Rawi 
seedlings from any adult tree and their position I am inclined to 
think that this plant owes its dispersal more to the sea currents 
than to the wind in spite of its winged seeds. 
22nd April:—Mat and I with a boatman pushed up the stream 
which is rocky, here and there high walls of rock, and on a big 
rock near the top found a Begonia new to me with flowers, and 
Arisaema Kunstlert, and Vitis “discolor and eventually reached the 
top of the ridge. Here were many plants of a species of Daemo- 
norops none of which showed any signs of having ever flowered, 
but seemed to propagate themselves “py layering “their branches, 
giving us an opportunity of getting reversed rattan walking sticks. 
These when made up are very puzzling to those who do not know 
how they are produced, as the leaf sheaths point to the roots instead 
of away from them. The branches laver and produce a more or 
less clubbed end and by cutting the stem between one rooting 
portion and the next one can obtain a rattan in which the leaves 
appear to have grewn towards the root instead of away from it. 
The top of the ridge was dry and barren, about 1,000 feet altitude 
Jour. Straits Branch 
