The lofty Dipterocarps flower at uncertain intervalsj, 
and about 6-8 weeks from one of their prolific flowerings 
shower down a great abundance of winged fruits^ which 
germinate immediately and cover the ground ; but some 
of these seedlings die at once ; others persist for a few 
years in the shade^ and then, if they cannot see the 
sky/' perish also. Every big tree^ in this way^ sends to 
waste tens of thousands of progeny in the effort to leave 
a few descendants. 
At certain seasons, the presence of oaks is made 
evident by a profusion of acorns of two, or perhaps three, 
species, but chiefly of Quercus conocarpa. 
On the edge of the Jungle, towards the Maranta 
Avenue, Gnetum Kingianum is conspicuous. 
When light is let into the Jungle, ferns get an advan- 
tage, Nephrolepis biserrata in the centre and Gleichenia 
linearis on the margins. The latter is apt to make a bed 
so dense that no seedlings can grow through it even if 
they can germinate. 
THE PALM VALLEY 
The Palm Valley is prettiest from the roads above it, 
but the visitor who would study the palms must be pre- 
pared to descend into it. 
Palms vary greatly in size, between the little Mexican 
Chamaedorea humiliSf attaining scarcely one foot, and the 
dwarf Malayan Pinanga acaulis and Licuala triphylla^ 
which are slightly larger, to the tall Ceroxylons, which 
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