Seifriz: Plants on Mt. Gedeh, Java 301 



flowers, Dendrobium Hasseltii holds a close second place. This 

 orchid is quite common in these high, foggy regions. 



The parasite Balanophora elongata is a curious plant. The 



only aerial portion is the thick, short, flower-spike of brick-red 



'"" , " nophora grows parasitically on the roots of Vac- 



Albizzia, the latter a tree whose acquaintance we 



hi make. The subterranean portion of the parasite is 



c <>1 host and parasite tissue. This composite tissue is 



ver\ .(1 and much resembles a piece of stag horn coral. 



Terrestrial ferns are less numerous at this altitude. Poly- 

 stichum biaristatum and Plagiogyria glauca are the most common. 

 The coarse Lomaria vestita forms pure patches. Nephrodium 

 tuberosum (N. hirsutum) is worthy of special note because of its 

 large root tubercles. The epiphytic ferns are more numerous, 

 especially species of Polypodinm — for example, P. obliquatum, 

 the smaller P. hirtelhim, the climbing P. rupestris, and the 

 smallest of polypodies, P. cucullatinn. The thick, leathery, 

 15 inch leaves of Elaphoglossjtm one would hardly suspect as 

 being those of a fern. Among the "filmy" ferns is the tiniest 

 of all ferns, Hymenophyllum paniculiflorum, whose delicate 

 lacy frond measures less than an inch in length. The lycopodium, 

 L. vohibile, is very prolific at this altitude. 



Mosses are again exceedingly abundant in the lower half of 

 the fourth subzone. Every tree and vine is covered with a 

 thick mat of reeking wet moss (Plate 17, Fib. 1). That is, 

 there is here a second "moss zone." It is evident that "moss 

 zone," which has been used by ecologists as a descriptive term 

 in connection with mountain rain-forest regions, may be in- 

 accurate. 



The mosses of the fourth and second subzones differ strikingly 

 in type. Those of the second subzone are mostly festooning 

 types, loose in form, growing in long, pendent streamers. In 

 the higher and more windy fourth subzone the mosses are all 

 of a compact, tufted type, well adapted to hold water. A com- 

 parison of the two photographs, Plate 16, Fig. 2, and Plate 

 17, Fig. 1, will help visualize the pronounced difference in 

 moss type of these two zones. An enumeration of genera would 

 further emphasize the marked altitudinal distribution of mosses 

 on Mt. Gedeh. Of thirty-two speciescollected and identified 



