Flora of the Ceylon Littoral. 
5 1 
Swamp species, often by the river¬ 
side with submerged bases. 
Nipa fruticans (sometimes on 
solid mud). 
Chrysodium aureum 
passing to typical river-side 
(reed-marsh) forms. 
Species preferring solid ground ' 
(Barringtonia-formation of Schim- 
per) but often on mud close to 
mangroves. 
Barringtonia speciosa . 
Cerbera Odollam. 
Hevitiera litoralis. 
Hernandia peltata. 
Hibiscus tiliaceus. 
Thespesia populnea. 
Pongamia glabra. 
Terminalia Catappa. 
Calophyllum Inophyllum. 
Pandanus odoratissimus. 
c n 
w 
> 
o 
X 
© 
L Z 
• C 
S 
s 
w 
CO 
J 
The Germination of Seeds from Drift. 
Sea-drift is of course found all over the world on flat or sloping 
coasts, and consists of miscellaneous debris thrown up by the tide. 
Its nature is naturally very various, according to the locality. On 
our own coast it is very largely composed of seaweeds which have 
been torn from their homes by the waves, but in the tropics parts of 
various flowering plants are much more largely represented. This 
is no doubt due to the fact that tropical coasts and river banks are 
more often clothed with a luxuriant woody vegetation, so that much 
more material derived from such plants drops into the water than 
is the case on the more sparsely clothed watersides of temperate 
regions. Among the miscellaneous mass of half decayed vegetable 
debris, leaves, small branches, pieces of wood, etc., there are 
usually many fruits and seeds, some strikingly well preserved 
others in all stages of disintegration. These belong mainly, though 
by no means exclusively, to the typical coast trees with which we 
have been dealing in the present paper. 
Schimper’s account 1 of the Drift-seeds and fruits of the coast- 
plants of the Eastern Tropics has already been alluded to (p. 17) 
He shews that the fruits and seeds of all the characteristic species 
possess features which enable them to float for long periods, and 
thus extends and consolidates the earlier and striking observations 
of Guppy, who found that certain species were able to germinate 
after floating in seawater for very long periods. Schimper also 
points out that the existence of the capacity for floating (in many 
1 Indo-malayische Strandflora, pp. 158-196. 
