PLANT COLLECTING IN PALAWAN 



6/Djaja Djendoel Soejarto 



Photos courtesy of the author 



Western coastal slopes of Irawan mountain complex. 



Palawan Is a Southwestern Island Province of 



the Philippines, the fifth largest in this country of more 

 than 7,000 islands. It is located about 100 miles north 

 of the tip of Borneo, has an area of some 4,500 miles 

 (slightly smaller than Connecticut), and is about as far 

 north of the equator as Costa Rica (8°-12°). It consists 

 mostly of mountain ranges, notably the Mt. Man- 

 talingajan Range at the southern end (highest peak 

 2,085 m), the Victoria Range (1,798 m) to the north of 

 it, and the Cleopatra Range (1,593 m) next. The 

 24 Cleopatra Range gradually descends northward into 



the Pagdanan Range. Another, lower range is at the 

 island's far northern end. 



Because of Palawan's mountainous character, the 

 flat lowlands are limited to alluvial strips (silt, sand, 

 and gravel left by streams), mostly on the eastern side. 

 Good forest cover is still to be found over most of the 



Dr. Djadja Djendoel Soejarto is a research associate in the Depart- 

 ment of Botany and associate professor of Pharmacognosy, College 

 of Pharmacy, at the University of Illinois at Chicago. 



