he = a el lm ll ee » =. = oo 2 ae is 
Se ay : " — = — r 
298 MERRILL AND MERRITT. 
branches of the trees being covered with a profusion of mosses, scale- 
mosses, lichens, etc., while epiphytic ferns and orchids are very abundant. 
The larger trees in the lower part of this formation on Mount Pulog are 
sometimes 60 cm in diameter and from 13 to 30 m high, but most of 
them are smaller and shorter than this, and as a rule, grow progressively 
smaller and more stunted as altitude is gained. On sharp ridges, exposed 
to the full force of the wind, the constituent species remaining approxi- 
mately the same, the plants become very much dwarfed and frequently 
much distorted, forming characteristic elfinwood. The trees are not 
of uniform size in any part of such forests, small ones being invariably 
crowded together between and under the larger ones. 
On Mount Pulog this belt of mossy forest extends from the upper 
limits of the pine region at an approximate altitude of 2,000 m, to an 
altitude varying from 2,500 to 2,600 m, according to the configuration 
of the open top ; on all other ridges and mountains in the Benguet-Lepanto 
region where this formation occurs, it apparently extends to the highest 
peaks, and this seems to be true of the other mountains of the Philippines, 
wherever the mossy forest is found, with the exception of some active 
voleanoes. Mount Halcon in Mindoro, however, has a well-defined heath 
formation, consisting of undershrubs and ferns intermixed with grasses 
at an altitude of about 2,400 m, but this is succeeded by a dense mossy 
forest or elfinwood that extends to the summit of the mountain. 
On Mount Pulog, at least at certain seasons, when viewed from the 
open mountain top, this mossy forest presents a peculiar grayish shade, 
caused by the color of the leaves of Leptospermum flavescens Sm., and by 
the fact that the ultimate branches of nearly all the trees are bare and 
exposed, due to the effect of the prevailng winds; the presence of certain 
species of lichens in considerable quantities on the branches of the trees 
accentuates the prevalent grayish tinge of the vegetative type. 
In this formation the prevalent upper story or larger growing trees 
are Hugena acrophila C. B. Rob., Leptospermum flavescens Sm., Podo- 
carpus imbricatus Bl., Quercus spp., Symplocos spp., Eurya spp., Taxus 
baccata subsp. wallichiana Pilg., and Neolitsea macrocarpa Merr. Lepto- 
spermum flavescens Sm. is the largest tree in the area, but in the upper 
limits it becomes much dwarfed and here hardly exceeds 10 m in 
height. All have much-branched, spreading, scraggly habits of growth, 
there being practically no large, straight-boled trees in the forest. 
The most common constituents of the undergrowth or second story 
trees and shrubs are Debregeasia longifolia Wedd., Berberis barandana 
Vid., Drimys piperita Hook. f., Hydrangea lobbii Max., Polyosma philip- 
pinensis Merr., Pittosporum resiniferum Hemsl., Rubus copelandii Merr., 
Evodia reticulata Merr., E. dubia Merr., Skimmia japonica Thunb., 
Glochidion merrillii C. B. Rob., Ilex crenata Thunb., Perrottetia alpestris 
Loesen., Daphne luzonica C. B. Rob., Medinilla spp., Aralia hypoleuca 
