Included here are the islands of Java, Madura, Babor, Damar and the Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara) including Kangean, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores and Timor.

Deciduous forests are confined to areas of Java, Bali and other islands where there are four or more dry months. They have a lightly closed canopy reaching about 25 m in height, but a few emergent species, such as Salmalia malabarica, reach greater heights. The typical canopy species in eastern Java and Bali include Acacia leucophloea, Ailanthus integrifolia, Albizia lebbekoides, Bauhinia malabarica, Cassia fistula, Dillenia pentagyna, Homalium tomentosa, Phyllanthus emblica, Tetrameles nubiiflora and the endemic Pterocymbium javanicum (Sterculiaceae). Also characteristic are the giant palms Borassus flabellifera and Corypha utan. The massive leaves of Corypha can reach 2 m in diameter. This species also has the second largest inflorescence in the plant kingdom reaching 4.5 m at the top of the palm and setting hundreds of thousands of fruit. However, it takes up to 70 years to flower and then dies. The shrub layer includes Tabernaemontana pauciflora and the endemic Munronia javanica (Meliaceae). Many of the herb layer species such as Glinus lotoides, Helicteres angustifolia and Turraea pubescens with its ant-dispersed seeds, are confined to deciduous forest. Other include lilies such as the yellow flowered Curligo orchioides and large white flowered Crinum asiaticum, and one may also encounter the attractive purple endemic orchid Nervilia campestris (Orchidaceae). At the onset of the wet season these forest display a riot of colour from the forest floor to the canopy. Particularly impressive are the dark red, bell-like flowers of Pterocymbium javanicum. Another unusual deciduous forest can be found on Bali’s Prapat Agung Peninsula. Here the forest is almost entirely dominated by Manilkara kauki, but this is thought to represent a mature stage of early succession that became established after some major disruption, probably fire during a very dry period. In the moist deciduous forest of the Meru Betiri National Park forest in east Java, large trees such as Anthocarpus elacticus, Ficus benjamina, Kleinhovia hospita, Langerstroemia flos-reginae, Planchonia valida, Spondias pinnata and the endemic or near endemic Bischofia javanica (Phyllanthaceae) and Pterospermum javanicum (Malvaceae) still occur, but because of past disturbance there is rarely a continous canopy. Understory trees include Alpinia striata, Baringtonia asiatica, Voacanga grandifolia and the endemic giant bamboo Gigantochloa manggong (Poaceae). Other endemic species include Balanophora fungosa (Rubiaceae) and the famous giant flowered Rafflesia zollingeriana (Rafflesiaceae).

References

Hakim, L., Nakagoshi, N. & Isagi, Y. 2002. Conservation ecology of Gigantochloa manggong: an endemic bamboo at Java, Indonesia. Journal of International Development and Cooperation, 9: 1-16.

Kalkman, C. 1955. A plant-geographical analysis of the Lesser Sunda Islands. Acta Botanica Neerlandica, 4: 200-225.

Meijer, W. 1976. Botanical Explorations in Celebes and Bali. National Geographic Society Research Reports, 60: 583-605.

Monk, K. A., De Fretes, Y. & Reksodiharjo-Lilley, G. 1997. The Ecology of Nusa Tenggara and Maluku. The Ecology of Indonesia Series. Oxford University Press.

Smiet, A. C. 1992. Forest ecology on Java: human impact and vegetation of montane forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 8: 129-152.

Steenis, C. G. G. J. van. 1972. The mountain flora of Java. Leiden

Steenis, C. G. G. J. van. 1957. Outline of the vegetation types in Indonesia and some adjacent regions. Proceedings of the Pacific Scientific Congress, 8: 61-97.

Watanabe, N. M. & Suzuki, E. 2008. Species diversity, abundance, and vertical size structure of rattans in Bornea and Java. Biodiversity and Conservation, 17: 523-538.

Whitten, T., Soeriaatmadja, R. E. & Afiff, S. A. 1997. The Ecology of Java and Bali. Oxford University Press.