XXIV. 



Above 2,000 ft. a small-stemmed palm known to the Malays as 

 jxxllas, and which makes valuable walking-sticks, began to be abun- 

 dant, but died out again as the altitude increased. At Kuala Teku itself 

 two species of bamboo were fairly common — one of the ordinary variety 

 about three or four inches in diameter ; while the other, which I have not 

 seen elsewhere than in the Tahan valley, was about an inch and a quarter 

 in cross section and almost solid. Above 1,500 ft. bamboos rapidly 

 thinned out, and at the 6th Camp they were rare and quite sporadic 

 as were also the ordinary rotans, though one or two dwarf creeping 

 kinds were not uncommon. About 2,000 ft., as we were nearing the 

 summit of the ridge, the true mountain vegetation began to appear. 

 Among the larger forest trees the large-coned Dammara attained its 

 maximum size, while one or possibly two species of Dacridium were 

 not uncommon. The crimson Rhododendron malayanum became 

 abundant whilst on slopes, where fallen trees or landslips had opened 

 up the ground thickets of bracken-like ferns intermixed with pitcher 

 plants grew luxuriantly. 



After 3,000 ft. large trees quite died out ; while shrubs allied to 

 Vaccinium, a large species of Pandanus and bushy forms of Dacridium 

 and Podocarpus took their place. Pitcher plants became very much 

 more abundant and continued right to the summit of the mountain, 

 while rotans and bamboos almost died out. On some of the steep and 

 rocky slopes a tall palm with fan-shaped leaves, which is seen in the 

 foreground of plate D, was very numerous and, in default of better mate- 

 rial, was used for building shelters. As has been noted previously, no 

 exceptionally luxuriant vegetation occurs anywhere on Gunong Tahan, 

 except in the gullies on the actual escarpment of the mountain, where 

 the moss was very thick. Here were noted a handsome Rhododendron, 

 with scarlet flowers, allied to R. jacJcianum and a fine Dendrobium, 

 with deep magenta flowers. Two or three species of Burmanniaciae 

 were also not uncommon. After crossing the escarpment and the 

 shoulder of the mountain and descending again into the broad valley 

 of the Teku, which has been described in the section on Physical 

 Features, the vegetation again changed somewhat in damper situations, 

 coarse sedges and grasses and a species of sundew were the dominant 

 forms. On the rocks pitcher plants with small white pitchers and an 

 orchid with small ovate pseudo-bulbs of a bright yellow 7 colour were very 

 numerous ; while in the lateral valleys wherever the soil was a little 

 thicker two handsome ground orchids were much in evidence, one with 

 flowers of a bright buttercup yellow (Spathoglottis ivrayi), and the other 

 of varied shades of mauve and magenta ( Arundina bambusaeifolia var.). 

 This flora continued practically unchanged to the actual summit, but 

 on the final ridge the hillocks were covered with a somewhat denser 

 vegetation, chiefly composed of Pandanus and large-leaved species of 

 Rhododendron, which were not in flower at the time of our visit, but 

 are identical with a species found on the Selaugor main range at 

 altitudes above 4,500 ft. 



