Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

72 AUSTRALASIA.spontaneous growths, certain Javanese forests still maintain their ground, rivallingin splendour those of Brazil and Columbia. Vast districts in Java, probablyoccupying one-fourth of the whole area, are no doubt covered with savannahs,where nothing flourishesexcept the alang [imperata arundinaceu), in which horseand rider disappear together. In the midst of these boundless seas of a lightgreenherbaceous growth, little is seen except a few scattered clumps of treesBut these savannahs are due to the action of man destroying the forests, either toclear the land or to destroy the tigers and snakes, and in any case the largetimber, when left to itself, never fails to recover its lost ground. Forests ofacacias and mimosas, which give little shade, also flourish on the slopes of thelimestone hills. But on the moist and fertile coastlands and well-watered heightsthe surface is overgrown with a surprisingly vigorous vegetation. Here everystem is covered with epiphytes, their branches are matted together by the creepers ;while the tall palms, seeking light and air, burst through the surrounding foliage,forming, as it were, a forest above a forest.The Sunda Islands have their peculiar species of palms, amongst others, twovarieties of the sago {metroxylon Ruinphii or sagus) and the corypha {gebaiig), whichgrows in a narrow zone at an elevation ofabout 450 feet, immediately above thecoast forests. The liana-palms {rattan or rofang) twine round the other trees,hanging in festoons from top to top sometimes for a space of three or fourhundred feet, and thus binding together whole forests in a compact mass into whichit is impossible to penetrate without the aid of the axe or fire. Some species ofbamboo also acquire the trailing habits of the lianas, occasionally growing to alength of 130 feet ;others are armed with thorns and form dense thickets shunnedeven by the wild beasts themselves. The marvellous development of the parasiticplants in the Sunda Islands is well seen in the blossom of Rnfflemi, which growson the roots and branches of a species of cissKS. In Sumatra one variety bearsenormous flowers over seven feet round.On the slopes of the mountains the various growths are disposed verticallyaccording to the climate, ranging from the tropical zone of the coastlands to thetemjDerate region of the topmost crests. Nevertheless, curious associations aresometimes observed amongst plants belonging naturally to different areas. Thusin Sumatra, the oak is found in company with the camphor-tree. On the sameseaboard there are also met certain teaks, which in Java occur only at considerablealtitudes on the flanks of the mountains. On the northern uplands of Sumatraare found certain pines intermingled with casuarinas. Here is the southern limitwhose true home are the Himalayas.Amid this endless variety of forms each island of the archipelago has its ownof those conifers,share of endemic growths. Thus in the Sumatran flora, comprising over twothousand six hundred known phanerogams, Miguel enumerates a thousand andforty-nine which are not met in Java, although separated from the larger islandonly by a narrow strait. Even the western and eastern divisions of Java itself,differing but slightly in their climates, present considerable contrasts in theirlocal floras. Not only the Moluccas, long famous for their valuable sjiiccs, but all