LEAFLETS OF PHILIPPINE BOTANY 
EDITED BY A. D. E. ELMER, A. M. 
Vol. Il. Manila, P. I., December, 27, 1908. Art. aM 
GESNERACEAE FROM THE CUERNOS MTS. 
BY 
A. D. E. ELMER. 
Occasionally a botanical colleetor gets into a region in which: 
certain groups of plants are unusually abundant, not ordinarily 
abundant in individuals as in temperate regions, but abundant 
in species and vice versa. In these islands we have some 
striking examples. For instance, the Freycinetia in the vi- 
cinity of Lucban (see article 11 of the Leaflets, page 212); 
the Orchidaceae on mount Halcon, Mindoro (see Philip. Journ. 
Sci. 2, Sect. C, page 811). Most of our botanical material 
of Dipterocarpaceae comes in from the narrowed southern 
portion of Luzon. Again, there is no place in the Philip- 
pines so rich in species of Schefflera as the lake Lanao region of 
central Mindanao. In no other locality have I collected as many 
species of Zingiberaceae and of scale mosses as in the Cuernos 
mountains of south Negros Oriental. 
Equally interesting and abundant are the Gesneraceae in these 
same mountains. So far as I know, in no other locality in our 
Archipelago have so many kinds been collected. The members 
of this family are very fascinating to most collectors, and certain 
denizens are extraordinarily ornamental in their native haunts. 
Not so pleasing when a person tries to preserve their beauty in 
