78 



A NATVIiAUSrS WANDEIilNOS 



profuse abundance, massed iu clusters in every stage i^nmih ; 

 and as these in their jiiiasage to maturity assume all the diflV- 

 reut briliiaiit hues by which rieh orange changes into the 

 sombre shades of purple, the eflect against the background of 

 tlie tree-stem and of its own sbigularly chaste ieliage is strik* 

 iiig in the extreme, and is one of those objects that tho eye can 

 meet every day with renewed pleasure. 



The highest mountain in this neigbbourhoo<l attains an 

 elevation of nearly 5(X)0 feet, and for the last ijfJO yards of its 

 ascent presented many interesting features. In producing 

 plants rarely found at so low an elevation on higher moini- 

 tains, the Javan flora on the pure volcanic clay differs from 

 that where the soil is more overlaid with forest humus. 

 Two ferns, a species of Glekhmiia and the broad-fronded 

 Di'pteris horsfiddi—heTe at its lowest altiturltnal limit—pro- 

 fusely covered the ground; and, as if stretching their utmost 

 towards the heights where they naturally grow, rhododendrons 

 and a beautiful creeping s|>ecies of Ericaceiv (QmiUhen'a 

 repens) clothed the tops of the tallest trees. The lemon -scentci] 

 laurel (Ttiratdkera ciirata)j whose leaves and frnit give out a 

 sweet odour that can be detected a long way off, grew in 

 clumps ; and its fruits, a favourite food of the Bulbuls and 

 the Bell-birds, retain their perfume even after they have been 

 dropped by these birds. 



At the summit pitcher-plants {Nepenthes phjUamphora) 

 appeared in profusion, climbing up the trees and running 

 over the ground among the moss, out of which peeped the 

 delicate bright star-like flowers of the Ap odemma montanum, 

 which always reminded me of the pretty European Chickwee<l 

 Winter-green (TrieniaNs ettropcea) of our northern wtiotls. 

 On one of the lower knolls I found perhaps the most in- 

 teresting plant in my Javan collection, a species of Fttr^a 

 (P. arhorea), growing entirely wild in the forest. This genus, 

 belonging to the family of the Verhettacew, is almost entirely 

 confined to the South American continent ; and it is of 

 extreme interest to find it, in this inexpHcable way, cropping 

 up in a region so far removed from the centre of its distribu- 

 tion. A species from the island of Timor occurs, without 

 history, in the collection in the British ^Museum made by 

 Mr. Kobert Brown ; but these iire tlie oidy two examples, so 



