THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 
39 
gether with the heavy cost of travelling, having deterred 
naturalists from visiting the country. Lately, however, 
Don Sebastian Yidal, Conservator of Forests in the Philip¬ 
pines, has added considerably to our knowledge by the 
publication of his Sinopsis de Familias y Generos de Plantas 
Lenosas de Filipinas , and Mr. R. A. Rolfe of Kew has 
rendered equal service to science by his able paper upon 
the flora of the archipelago, 1 in which its derivation and 
the elucidation of the past history of the group re¬ 
ceive detailed consideration. So far as is at present 
known, 723 genera of 2108 species of Dicotyledons, and 
273 genera of 1340 species of Monocotyledons exist. The 
proportion of the latter to the Dicotyledons is thus more 
than one-half, which—since in tropical insular floras it 
seldom exceeds one-fourth—must be considered very un¬ 
usual. In the ferns, of 467 species no less than 52 are 
peculiar, which is alone sufficient to stamp the islands 
with a marked individuality. But one of the most 
peculiar features is the large number of endemic species 
and the exceeding paucity of endemic genera. The 
former reach the large total of 769, but while Borneo 
has 28 endemic genera and Java 30, there are only 6 
in the Philippines. 
The general features of the flora are certainly 
Malayan; but at the same time a large number of 
typical Malayan genera have not yet been found in 
the archipelago, in spite of their occurring in Borneo. 
Yet more striking is the presence of a considerable 
Australian and Austro-Malayan element. Space will 
not permit detailed reference; but the characteristic 
genera Stcickhousia, Osbornia, Leptospermum , Psoralea 
are found, and numerous like examples could be given. 
A considerable connection with Celebes would prob- 
1 Jour. Linn. Soc. Lot., vol. xxi. No. 135. 
