Page:Journal of botany, British and foreign, Volume 34 (1896).djvu/187

 THE DEACiENAS OF THE MALAY PENINSULA. 165 darker beneath, and marked with paler circles. In other places they are light green, with pale greenish rings. The flowers follow the colouring of the leaves, being purple or greenish white, according to position. The showy orange-coloured fruits (from which Wallich no doubt took his specific name) resemble those of D. Maingayi Hook. fil. D. LONGiFOLiA Ridl. in Trans. Linn. Soc. iii. 388, was met with in Pahang. It has long lanceolate petioled leaves, and a short few- branched panicle of fairly long flowers. The following six species form a compact group, characterized by their small size and simple or nearly simple racemes. D. spicata Roxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 157, is described as " arboreous," and there seems to be much confusion as to what it is. I have not met with any arboreous Draccsna with a racemose inflorescence here. D. PoRTERi Bak. in Journ. Bot. 1873, 262. A low little-branched shrub about 2 ft. tall, the stem as thick as a pencil, whitish brown, with rings where the leaves have fallen off. The leaves are narrow linear-acuminate or lanceolate, 1 ft. long and ^ in. across, deep green. I have never seen any spots on them, nor do I see any on Wallich's specimen 5148 a at the British Museum, though this is said to be spotted in the Flora of British India, 1. c. 328. The raceme, which often bears a few short lateral branches at the base, is usually shorter than the leaves. The flowers are white ; the small globose fruits are orange. It IS common in dry woods in Singapore (1652), and I have also gathered it on Mount Ophir, in Malacca (3148), and Gunong Pulai, in Johore ; and it also grows at the Waterfall in Penang. The natives call it " Jarom-Jarom Padang." D. teniijiora var. ? Curtisii Hook. fil. Fl. Brit. Ind. /. c. 329, appears to me merely a fine form of this species. D. TERNiFLOKA Roxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 159, is a plant of very similar habit, but with broader elliptic leaves more distinctly petioled, and short racemes of somewhat broader and thicker flowers. The leaves are always dark green, and the flowers white. There are intermediate forms to be met with between this and the last, and it is not always at first sight easy to distinguish the two, but typical specimens look very different. It is called *' Poko San Juan Bukit," lit. Hill St. John's plant, and is common in the same habitats as D. Porteri Bak., occurring in Singapore ; Johore, at Jambu Larang ; in Pahang on the Tahan River, and at Penang Waterfall {Curtis; Ridley, nos. 4758, 2393, 1651, 1642. D. coNGESTA Ridl. in Trans. Linn. Soc. I. c. 388. Has a very reduced stem, the leaves often rising straight from the ground. They are long-petioled and large for the size of the plant, of a dark green colour. The raceme, which is very much shorter than the leaves, is dense, and the flowers are long and purplish. It inhabits limestone rocks in Selangor and Pahang. D. breviflora, sp. n. A dwarf plant, almost stemless. Leaves dark green, lanceolate-acuminate; petiole deeply channelled, not