710 



NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



quite typical of those parts of the 

 Philippine lowlands with a seasonal 

 distribution of rainfall. Beween 1500 

 ft. (500 meters) and 2700 ft. (900 meters) 

 elevation the forest is classed as rain 

 forest, and is quite similar in appearance 

 and composition to that of the northern 

 and eastern slopes of the Islands gener- 

 ally, where the rainfall is non-seasonal. 

 The elevations above 2700 ft. to the 

 summit are mainly covered with ex- 

 tremely moist forest, called the mossy 

 forest, on account of the heavy coating 

 of moss on most of the tree trunks. 

 Interspersed in openings and exposed 

 areas of shallow soil within this region 

 are patches of rank growths of grasses — 

 Miscanthus, Saccharum and Imperala 

 (Cogon). Thus all of the principal 

 types of habitats, except the mangrove 

 swamps, strand forests, and subalpine 

 scrub, are represented in the Mount 

 Makiling area. 



Because of its accessibility from 

 Manila from which it may be reached 

 by train or auto in about two hours, or 

 by boat, the wild life has been more 

 thoroughly studied on this mountain 

 than on many other areas of similar 

 diversity in the tropics. Extensive 

 collections have been made here of the 

 insects, reptiles, birds and plants par- 

 ticularly. Further, the Colleges of 

 Agriculture and Veterinary Science and 

 the Forest School of the University of 

 the Philippines are located at the foot of 

 Mount Makiling, and the mountain 

 has been set aside as a natural botanic 

 garden. It has been opened up by a 

 system of trails constructed and main- 

 tained by the Forest School, and all 

 forms of wild life are protected. The 

 facilities of the school laboratories and 

 the assistance of capable student assist- 

 ants have always been available for 

 visiting scientists. 



FRESH WATER LAKE 



The lake and swamp vegetation 

 bordering on Lake Bay at Los Banos 

 have been studied by Gates, ^ and his 



' Gates, C. F. Swamp vegetation in hot springs 

 ^rea in Los Banos, Laguna, P. I. Phil. Jour. Sci., 9: 



paper has been consulted with reference 

 to them. The lake is shallow for the 

 most part, and in many places supports 

 a growth of eel grass, Vallisneria gi- 

 gantea Graebn.; inata, Ceratophyllum 

 demersum L.; and pondweed, Polcmio- 

 geton malainus Miq. attached to the 

 bottom. Floating aquatics, such as 

 quiapo, Pistia stratioies L. lia, Lemna 

 sp. and the introduced water hyacinth, 

 Eichhornia crassipes Solms, are abun- 

 dant. A number of migratory aquatic 

 and shore birds are found on and around 

 the lake during the winter. Fish of many 

 species occur in the lake, notwithstand- 

 ing the fact that the natives get a large 

 part of their subsistence from lake 

 fishing, and some of these fish are curious 

 in that they are normally salt water 

 forms, which have wandered in from 

 Manila Bay and have apparently become 

 accustomed to the fresh water habitat. 

 Small clams are also found in the 

 lake and some of the tributary streams. 



FRESH WATER MARSH 



In the shallow water along the eastern 

 shore of the lake, particularly, are large 

 areas of lotus, Nelumbium speciosus 

 Willd; in a similar location near Los 

 Banos the white water lily, Castalia 

 sellata (Willd.) Blume occurs. In shal- 

 lower water and in wet marsh occur 

 Typha angustifolia L. var. javanica 

 Schnizl. and the equally cosmopolitan 

 Pragmites vulgaris Trin. On the satu- 

 rated soils bordering these, and occa- 

 sionally flooded occur the blue flowered 

 Monochoria spp.; Polygonum spp. and 

 Ipomea; a sedge, Fimhristylis miliacea 

 (L.) Vahl. There appear to be no 

 indigenous shore birds characteristic 

 of this area, though there are many 

 migrants. As in all open ground areas 

 of the Philippines, life forms of wide 

 distribution predominate here, the only 

 important exception being among the 

 frogs, of which the common species such 

 as Rana Vettigera Wiegmann are indige- 

 nous to the Philippines. 



SALINE MARSHES NEAR THE HOT SPRINGS 



In the salty waters flowing from the 

 hot mineral springs there are in the 



