256 
FLORA OF THE SUNDRIBUNS. 
Kleinhovia are well adapted to dispersal by ocean currents;; its 
distribution is very similar to that of Scirpodendron, Cladium^ 
Brownlowiay Pkcenix paludosuy Myrwstachya and other charac- 
teristic and well known Sundribun species. The fact that the species 
was introduced to the Calcutta Garden from the Moluccas by 
Roxburgh in 1796 is no more an argument against its being wild in 
the Sundribuns than are the facts that Intsiu was introduced to 
the same garden from Singapore in 1835, and Dolichandrone was 
introduced from Southern India in 1830, arguments against these two, 
which are both wide-spread trees in the Sundribun swamp-forests, 
being truly wild in our area. 
The species introduced by the sea are variable in habit ; a few 
are herbaceous, like Myriostachyay Scirpodendron^ Orysa coarctata^ 
Mariscus albescens, Crinum asiaticum, Salicornia brachiata, 
Arthrocnemum indicum\ a few are climbers, like Fla,gellaria indica. 
Acanthus voluhilis, Ipomcea ilLustris, Merremia hederacea, Sarcolo^ 
bus globosus and S. carinatus, Dalh rgia torta and D, spinosa, 
Derris uliginosa, Canavalia turgida, Mucuna gigantea ; or rambling 
shrubs, like Hibiscus tiliaceus and H. tortuosus, Paramignya longu 
spina and Salacia prinoides ; the rest are erect shrubs, like Acan- 
thus ilicifolius, Clerodendron inerme, or trees of smaller or larger size.. 
The most notable feature of the Sundribun swamp-forest flora is that 
half the species are probably sea-introduced, the balance owing 
their presence chiefly (i) to wind-agency and (2) to introduction by 
large rivers ; a few have come (3) owing to the agency of frugivorous, 
but none owing to that of wading birds ; only one owes its presence to 
(4) man. 
Grass- Savaiinalis, — The species that forms the basis of these 
grassy swamps \s Phragmites Karka var. cincta ; this doubtless owes 
its presence here to wind-agency, which in all probability is also ac- 
countable for the^presence of Imperata,oi Saccharum sponianeum and 
perhaps, though in the last instance introduction by rivers is also 
conceivable, of Andropogon intermedius diS well. The sedges present 
cannot well be wind-introduced species, but whether they are to be 
looked on as introductions by water-birds, by rivers, or by the sea is an 
open question, since all three agencies of dispersal are conceivable. 
Having regard to their distribution, however, one may conclude 
that the Cladium is probably a seadntroduced species, while Scirpus 
grossus and Cyperus exaltatus may be considered introductions 
either by means of water-birds or by rivers. The two bulr-ushes, also 
found on the margins of such grassy swamps, may similarly be 
introductions either by water-birds or by rivers; Acrostichum aureum, 
which is also present in such places, may have been dispersed by birds 
