Ebook The Flora of Singapore

Seasons. There is no great amount of difference in the rainfall throughout the year, although as a rule heavier falls occur in December and January than at other times, so that plants here have no definite resting periods and are nearly all truly evergreen. Certain plants, however such as Cratoxylon fomosu'n and Ficus Miquelii shed all their leaves at tolerabl y re gular intervals, remaining quite bare for onc*or two days, when the young shoots begin to unfold, and in a few days they are quite leafy again. This change is often but not always follow ed immediately by the appearance of the ?owers, and often the young leaves thus produced are of a brighter green, or brilliant red, orange, white or blue. This change takes place usually three or four times a year, and every tree of the kind in the district undergoes the change on the same day. It is not till we get north of Penang that we find a definite period of rest in which all or almost all plants shed their leaves altogether and become quite tare. A good series of observations on these phaenological phenomena would probably throw light on the causes of these irregular seasons.