4 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



like white flowers, and curious square fruits, and the other a taller and 

 more erect tree, with lighter coloured and thinner leaves, and long 

 straightly pendent strings of smaller and very closely set white tassel- 

 flowers with a very occasional almond-shaped fruit. 



Another tree here commonly seen is the n'Dilo {Calophyllum Ino- 

 phyllum L.), a magnificent tree, and a very useful one for the anti- 

 rheumatic oil which it yields, and for its splendid timber, the only fault 

 of which is that it is too hard in the grain for the carpenter's tools. 

 Here also is Afzelia hijuga, the Vesi of the F'ijians, beech-like in 

 character, and formerly one of the most useful trees to the natives in 

 that it was from the wood of this tree that they preferred to make their 

 war-clubs and most of their other implements. 



The shrubs smothering the trunks of these trees are mostly different 

 species of Hibiscus, Solanum, and so on; and the most noticeable 

 among the creepers are many with leguminous flowers, and, very 

 prominently, two or three species of Convolvulus, especially a most 

 exquisite pale blue 'Morning Glory' and the huge ' Moonflower,' 

 which latter always seems to me the very whitest and most fragile 

 looking of all flowers. 



Before quitting the coast region, the traveller must notice one other 

 very characteristic plant association. Every now and again he will 

 come across a more open place where for some reason trees and shrubs 

 have not succeeded in establishing themselves. In such places the 

 black peaty-looking earth is almost free from plant-covering except 

 where at frequent intervals a tiny little island — like the hag" in a 

 Scotch moor — has been built up by the densely matted roots of a coarse 

 growing fern, Acrostichum aureum, almost ubiquitous in the tropics, 

 both in the east and in the west, and north and south of the " line "; 

 and it is generally in such rather dreary-looking places that the beautiful 

 white lily-like Crinum asiaticum finds its most congenial home. 



When at last we turn away from the coast region and make for the 

 Rewa River, our road takes us up and down hill, but mainly up, till, 

 at a distance of nine miles from Suva, we reach the crest of the range 

 of rugged hills which separate Suva Harbour from the wide delta 

 through which the lower reaches of the Rewa flow. The nine miles 

 through which we have passed was doubtless once forest covered, 

 but much of it has at one time or another been cleared, either by natives 

 or by Europeans, and most of this cleared part has again been allowed 

 to fall back into bush or jungle. This tract affords a splendid oppor- 

 tunity for noticing the more prominent of the introduced plants which 

 have taken, almost too well to their new home and have become more 

 or less noxious weeds. Along the first part of this bit of road the most 

 noticeable thing is the almost interminable "brakes" of wild 

 lemons," guavas and Lantana, all introduced plants, beautiful enough 

 both in flower and fruit, now become noxious weeds, very difficult to 

 eradicate, over very considerable areas of land. 



The wild lemon is, of course, a " citrus fruit," but exactly what it 

 is I cannot say. The fruit, which is very abundant and picturesque, 



