Journal of the Federated Malay States museums - Sabrizain.org

i30 Journal of the F.M.S. Museum. [Vol. VI,
Leptospermwn, Vaccinimn longihracteatum, Rhododendron malaycmuui,
Anneslcea crnssipes, Rhodamnia trinervia, var. montana,
Evodia pachyphylla, Gordonia imbricata, Symplocos pulcherrima,
Olea capitellata ; and Pentaphylax malayana, its brilliant red
shoots making it very conspicuous all over the forest which
lay on the slopes of the ridge. Burmannia disticha, Hedyotis
patens, Spathoglottis aurea, Bromheadia rupestris, with many
epiphytic orchids, made up the herbaceous flora.
THE GULLY.
After passing along this ridge for some distance we came
to a wide cleft between two lofty precipices, which we call
" The Gully," and here is a steep ascent of about goo feet
over broken rocks and mud. The Gully contains many trees
of some size and, being very damp, there are many more
hygrophytic plants. On the trees near the entrance grows
the pretty creeping Rhododendron elegans, and among the
rocks Sonerila ccesia and 5. temiifolia, Phyllagathis hispida,
Didymocarpus Robinsonii, Loxocarpns incana, Begonia Herveyana,
Lastrea calcarata, and other such plants. At the top, on
trees sloping at all angles and draped with olive-coloured
moss, grew Dendrobium cornutiim. The series of plants here
is of a Malayan type, and seems to have pushed up from the
low-lying woods of the Tahan and Teku valleys.
THE PADANG FLORA.
The Padang is an extensive plateau of open undulating
country from 4,600 to 7,186 feet altitude, including herein the
higher peaks. The greater part of it consists of sandstone
rocks traversed by veins of white milky quartz, and strewn
plentifully with quartz-fragments. This region is traversed
by small streams which run down from the higher hills
to join the Teku. Along the banks of these streams there is a
deposit of peaty soil, which is covered with a close dense
wood of small trees, the biggest barely 40 feet tall, most
of them only an inch or two through, and often only 2 or 3
inches apart, forming a wood very difficult to pass through.
Where the ground through which the stream passes is flat,
we find a dampish spot with a certain amount of soil, which
bears a vegetation of bushes and herbaceous plants mixed.
The entrances of the flora of this area lie betw^een the dry
rock-flora of the open Padang and the wet woodland flora of
the upper part of the streams. Some plants are common to
both, but then are usually, as might be expected, modified to
a certain extent, those on the rocks being more adapted
for a xerophytic life than those in the woods.
I will treat of these two floras separately:— '
The Rock-Flora.—This flora extends with very little
variation over the whole of the stone field to the top of the
high ridges of Gunong Ulu Riang, 6,600 feet altitude, and the
summit of Gunong Tahan at 7,186. The whole of this area