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202 The Philippine Journal of Science 1914 
we not only have identifications of practically all of our moss 
collections, except the most recent, but know the range of those 
species which are not confined to these Islands. There still 
remain a considerable number of species obtained in the Philip- 
- pines by previous collectors, which are not represented in this 
herbarium, and as for the purposes of the present paper, the 
localities assigned to them are too indefinite, they are not herein 
considered, further than to say that what investigation has been 
possible regarding them indicates that if their exact localities 
had been specified, they would not materially affect the conclu- 
sions based on those actually at hand. The latter number 351 
species, with a qualification to be considered later. It might 
fairly be questioned whether collections obtained by persons 
whom a bryologist might consider mere amateurs, form a suffi- 
cient basis for conclusions. The best answer that can be made, 
without entering into details, is that the facts are nowhere more 
definite than in the case of the species most conspicuous to the 
eye. 
There is one very great difference between the moss and the 
phanerogamic floras of the Philippines. Great areas of the 
lower levels have been wholly or largely denuded of their original 
vegetation by human agencies, and the plants now found there 
are well nigh identical in every part of the Archipelago, and a 
high proportion of these must be considered as introductions, 
deliberate or more often accidental. Thus the investigations for 
the Flora of Manila* showed that over 1,000 species of flowering 
plants and ferns are represented within the chosen limits. It 
is probable that a complete moss flora for the same area would 
not reach a dozen species, except for temporary and accidental 
introductions in association with orchids or ferns from the 
provinces. 
Moreover, just as the phanerogamic flora of Manila is almost 
exactly that of every other town in the Philippines, so is the 
moss flora of those towns as poor as is that of Manila, except 
in both these groups of plants when there is primeval forest 
within easy access. Not only the endemic but also the indig- 
enous elements among the flowering plants found in the vicinity 
of the towns are proportionally much smaller than in the Philip- 
pines as a whole. On the other hand, the entire moss flora can 
be considered as indigenous, Barbula orientalis (Willd.) Broth. 
being probably the only species open to suspicion. In the ulti- 
* Merrill, E. D. A Flora of Manila. 1-490. Manila, 1912; Notes on 
the Flora of Manila with special reference to the Introduced Element. 
Philip. Journ. Sci. 7 (1912) Bot. 145-208. 
