The ancient broad-leaved Gymnosperm Gnetum has a few surviving species scattered through the tropics of both worlds, one reaching Polynesia.
Planters appreciate generally the value of broad-leaved and narrow-leaved plants and root crops, but there is an absence of exact knowledge, with the result that their practices are very varied.
The region is heavily forested with spruce, pine and broad-leaved trees.
In the lowlands and on the lower mountain slopes the forests are composed chiefly of broad-leaved trees, common among which are the bamboo, the coco and other palms, and the banyan tree; but on the higher mountain slopes pines are most abundant.
In Anomochloa there are several nearly equal ribs and in some broad-leaved grasses (Bambuseae, Pharus, Leptaspis) the venation becomes tesselated by transverse connecting veins.
