252 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



tion may be set down as ranging from forty to sixty, but they 

 are probably more numerous in the wild state. They are minute 

 and light ; those represented in fig. 16 were scarcely one-fifth 

 of an inch long, somewhat spindle-shaped but greatly attenuated 

 at each end. Their extreme lightness is highly favourable to 

 their dispersion by the wind. So light are Nepenthes seeds that, 

 according to Dr. Giinther Beck, it takes 28,000 seeds of Phyllam- 

 phora to weigh a gramme, or, the almost incredible number, 

 870,000, to balance the English ounce. 



Geographical Distribution and Climatology. 



The geographical distribution of Nepenthes presents nothing 

 peculiar in itself ; the region over which the species are spread 

 is, as a whole, fairly well defined, and its climatology is now well 

 understood. Of the thirty-six species, or thereabouts, known to 

 science fourteen are confined to Borneo, three more are common 

 to that and adjacent islands, thirteen more are extra-Bornean 

 but strictly Malaysian, the remaining six are much scattered — 

 there is one in North Australia, one in New Caledonia, one in 

 Ceylon, one in the Seychelles, one in Madagascar, and one in 

 North-East India. This enumeration shows that with the 

 exception of the last-named (Khasiana) all the species are 

 insular, and consequently all are found in relatively close 

 proximity to the ocean. Besides this, with three or four excep- 

 tions, they all occur within the equatorial zone : this zone 

 extends to about 12 deg. on either side of the equator. Most 

 of the species are quite local, but there are some, as Bafflesiana 

 and Phyllamphora, that have been detected in several places 

 and on different islands at a considerable distance apart, whilst 

 gracilis may be said to be almost ubiquitous throughout 

 Malaysia. Vieillardi, in New Caledonia, is the most eastern 

 species known, and Pervillei and Madagascariensis are the 

 most western ; the two last-named and Khasiana may be 

 regarded as stragglers from the main body aggregated in Borneo 

 and adjacent islands. Whilst by far the greater number of 

 species occur near the sea-coast at a low elevation, the species 

 with large pitchers, discovered by Sir Hugh Low on Kina Balu, 

 occur only at elevations ranging from 5,000 to 8,000 ft. where 

 the thermometer falls during the night to 5°-6° C. (41°-48° F.) 



