LOWLAND RAIN FOREST

Amongst the most fascinating of the Park's plant life are the many species of figs. These can take the form of trees, climbers or epiphytes and are the larders of the forest that provide abundant fruit for the wildlife.

The strangling fig begins from seed deposited in cavities in the trunks or branches of large trees by birds, bats and other small animals. Once germinated, the fig sends veils of tendrils down into the soil wich then form a lattice work of roots arround the trunk of the host tree. Eventually, over-whelmed by the vigorous fig, the host tree dies and rots away, leaving within the roots of the fig the hollow shape of the original tree, its strangled victim.

A number of trees such as the kigentel, the tokbrai and the kondang produce flowers and fruit on their lower trunks or larger braanches rrather than at the usual twig ends.

Why this interesting characteristic, called caulifory, has evolved is puzzling. One theory is that the fruit of these plants, being more accessible to larger animals, allows the seed to be scattered over a wide area. However other animal such as monkeys and birds become more vulnerable because they must leave the safety of the forest canopy to feed upon the cauliflorous fruit.

The climbing lianas are a feature of rain forest and grow towards the light without damaging the host tree. These vines only fruit and flower in the forest's canopy and to regenerate must reach the sunlight. They create aerial pathways for wildlife, assisting in their search for food and in seed dispersal. Several species which include kowao, leksa and asahan are water-logged with sap.

Not only animals benefit from climbing plants. Certain climbers are of high medicinal value and are used in the treatment of cancer and in Indonesian traditional tonics jamu. Others provide the Derris root powder used in insecticides or the latex in chewing gum while yet another produces a substance that is 1,500 times sweeter than sugar.

Another climber is the aggressive rattan, valued in furniture making, which use the thorns on its whip-like tendrils to attach itself to vegetation and passer-by. The angle of the thorns enable the rattan to anchor deeper with any attempt to pull away from it. As with other palms, its tightly folded immature leaves are very palatable to wildlife.

One of the characteristics of Ujung Kulon's forest is the wide variety of palms of which the most common is the langkap. Although these forests are found in very few others locations in the whole of the Malayan region, its rapid regeneration and aability to spreaad into undisturbed forest has made this a dominant species in Ujung Kulon.

Rain forests also hold a wide variety of epiphytes and although they also grown on trees, inflict no harm. They include the splendid bird's-nest. ferns and an abudance of orchids. The briliant white with a yellow centre Moon orchid, the deep red Pipit orchid, the white to purple-pink Dove orchid, and the tiny white Squirrel taail which only opens for one day, are just a few of the varieties.

PRIMARY FOREST

The most obvious characteristic of these areas are large trees with high canopies and more open undergrowth which usually makes walking in this type of forest not difficult.

The largest area of primary forest in the park streches from the highest point of the Gunung Honje Range to the south coast. On the Ujung Kulon Peninsula, roughly a third is primary forest. It covers most of the Gunung Payung Range with a narrow band crossing eastward to a large oval-shapped tract in the central Telanca Plateau. Peucang island aalso has a fine, although unusually spacious example while on Panaitan island it is isolated to the slopes of Gunung Raksa.

The tallest of the trees in Ujung Kulon's forest include the fan palm gebang, the bengang and the salam which can grow beyond the high canopy species to heights of 40 metres.

Just beneath them are the large trees such as bayur, gadog and in the Gunung Honje region the putat, all of which may grow to 35 metres with under-stories at 20 to 30 metres beneath the closed canopy.

Of these trees, the salam, bayur and putat are the ones which have the largest plank buttresses flowing from their trunks to the soil.

SECONDARY FOREST

The young secondary forest lies between the primary forest and the coast, occupying most of the Ujung Kulon Penninsula, Panaitan Island and the lower slopes of the Gunung Honje Range. The density of the vegetation can make this type of forest impenetrable and jungle-like in places.

A common tree of the secondary forest is the bungur. This tree produces a spectacular purple display and its prolific flowering around October to November is believed by local people to indicate the beginning of the rainy season.

Most of the bamboo species found in Indonesia are not truly native but this does not apply to the two predominant species in Ujung Kulon. The bambu cangketeuk favours steep slopes and river banks while the bambu haur like the wet soil of the uplands.  the impressive giant bamboo, used in furniture maaking, is not common in the park and tends to be associated with former cultivation sites.

COASTAL FOREST

The most outstaanding trees of the coast include the pagoda-shaaped ketapang and the robust nyamplung which has bunches of bright green fruit resembling large marbles.

The sands are often scattered with the magnificent white-pettaled flower of the broad, low-branched butun tree. These flowers are as large as an opended hand and hold numerous pink tiped stamens which exude a strong, rich perfume. They drop to the ground in the early mornings where they are raided by pollen collecting wasps before rapidly wilting.

The hisbiscus-like flower of the waru laut change in color from bright lemon to a deep brownish pink and are also widely found on the sea shores.

Of the coastal vegetaation the most distinctive is the giant pandanus. Its noteable features are large reddish pinnepale-shaped fruit and a network of tripod-like supporting roots emerging from the trunk some metres above the ground. Large stands of pandanus arre found along the south coast of Ujung Kulon.

The coconut palms, although not numerous, are believed to have been mostly planted by people rather than washed up by the sea and often indicated the sites of earlier cultivation in the park.

Beneath the canopy species of the shores are stretch of tarum, a shrubby lupin-like tree with yellow flowers and long thin pods behind which shelters the white spidery-flowered bakung lily, used by local people as fishingg lures. While twining acrross the sands from the verges of the forest are the bright pink flowering convolvulus.

The mangroves forest of Ujung Kulon are mainly situated along the shores of Welcome Bay and their root systems can vary in appearance. Some are stilt-like, as found in the suprisingly attractive mangrove lined rivers of the Cihandeuleum and Cikabeumbeum. Another species has roots poking above the mud allowing them to breathe at low tide and these can be seen south of Tamanjaya. Yet another has tendril-like roots hanging from lower branchhes.

The manroves' fruit and seed systems also have specialadaptations such as seedlings that germinate while still attached to the parent tree allowing them to quickly take root once they drop. Their seeds come in a wide variety of shapes annd sizes and being buoyant can drift in water for weeks.

Mangrove forest support a wide range of other life forms including marine life and are one of the most productive of all the natural environments that the bounteous rain forests contribute to our planet.