1090 LEAFLETS OF PHILIPPINE BorANY [Vor. III, Arr. 59 
known from the northern island. Apo has six species of 
Rhododendron, all northern Luzon has one or two less. Mindoro 
and Luzon combined have two species of Diplycosia, mount 
Apo has five, four of which are in the following pages 
deseribed as new. 
The flowers of some of our species are very inconspicu- 
ous, yet most of them are showy and a few almost pain- 
fully so. For instance, take Rhododendron spectabile Merr. 
which is always an epiphytie shrub and is confined to the 
rain-mossy forests. When in full flowering state it appears 
as a flaming bush and presents a striking contrast to the 
mass of inconspicuously Howered and dark green vegetation. 
Rhododendron kochii Stein is a beautiful large and pure white 
flowered shrub or occasionally becoming tree-like, and is 
always strewn along streamlets of the mossy forests. Along 
the Seriban creek at Baclayan camp it vies with the showy 
rose red Melastoma, and both pleasingly adorn the otherwise 
somber moss laden vegetation. Vaccinium palawanense Merr. 
has not large flowers but their profusion eclipses all foliage, 
and are of a pure waxy red. Onclear shining days especi- 
ally during the bright mornings swarms of Hymenopterous 
insects feed on them. The terminal or younger leaves of 
this species are always reddish tinged while the young foliage 
is bright red. It therefore appears as red bushes across 
gulches and canyons and can be singled out from the rest 
of the vegetation at a long distance. The berries of Vac- 
cinium  vilariü Vid. and Vaccinium microphyllum Blm. are 
edible. Blume’s species has thin skinned bluish rather juicy 
and very sweet berries which are unfortunately never found in 
abundance. Vidal’s species is common and is known from all 
the higher mountains and mountain ranges in the Philippines, 
and bears an abundance of fruit at nearly all seasons of the year. 
Its huckle-berries or blue-berries as one prefers to call them 
are much inferior in quality to the small leaved species. 
Over six years ago I collected it in the province of Benguet, 
Luzon, but nowhere have I seen them so abundant and of 
such large size as on the summit slopes of Apo where it 
forms the greater portion of the chaparral growth. On huckle- 
berry peak at 9000 feet we found them exceedingly abundant 
in August. Some of the berries were nearly one half of 
hi 
