April, 1930 
The Queensland Naturalist 71 
it; has not the same habit of growing in stools, though often 
two or three shoots may be found on the same plant, The 
fruits contain large black seeds and very little pulp, 
though what there is has a sweet banana flavour. A 
ground orchid — Calanthe veratrifolia — attaining a height 
of about four feet when in flower, is fairly common, 
though at the time of the visit only one specimen was 
found in flower. 
The Malayan forest on Great Palm Island is subjected 
to alternating wet and dry seasons. The dry season is 
not favourable to a luxuriant growth of epiphytes. Dur- 
ing the drought at the end of 1925 and the beginning of 
1926, the mortality of these plants was heavy, and especi- 
ally so in the case of the lithophytes. Plants of Pteris 
tremula, for instance, which, in the wet season had become 
established in rather dry situations had died. Orchids 
had become extremely parched and many, dying, had 
been blown to the ground. Elk-horn and birds’ nest ferns, 
had lost many of their leaves, and in some cases had died 
altogether. Such a state of affairs is very unfavourable 
to the most luxuriant development of the Malayan forest, 
and the majority of the formation certainly cannot be 
classified as rain forest. It corresponds to monsoon for- 
est, This is a type produced in regions with a fairly 
long dry season. Where water conditions are suitable it 
grades into rain forest, and this is the case on Great Palm 
Island. The rain forest is by no means as luxuriant as, 
say, on Tamborine Mountain in Southern Queensland,, 
but is sufficiently hygrophilous to be considered in the 
same class. It occurs on the higher peaks of the Island, 
as on Mount Bentley, above an elevation of about 1000 
feet, and at the top of two unnamed lower peaks a little 
to the west above about the same elevation. The explana- 
tion of such a development in the higher parts of the 
island seems to be in the presence of a cloud belt. It 
was impossible to collect data on this in ten days, but on 
the two cloudy days experienced during the stay, the mist 
enveloped Mount Bentley approximately down to the 
1000 feet level and also touched the other peaks. This, 
by the reduction of evaporation and by the providing of 
the aerial roots of epiphytes with moisture, would tend 
to encourage plant life. 
On the eastern side of the island conditions along 
the creeks are more favourable to rain forest. Owing 
to the exceptionally steep and almost inaccessible nature 
of the eastern slope the formation could not be examined 
thoroughly. One creek was traced from its source to 
the sea, and was well provided with water ; whereas those 
