304 



Seifriz: Plants on Mt. Gedeh, Java 



green odor when crushed. The leaves of Gaultheria exhibit a 

 characteristic of alpine plants, standing perpendicularly to and 

 closely surrounding the stem. Some few ferns are still found 

 at this altitude, and lycopodiums are quite abundant, for ex- 

 ample, L. gedeanum. 



This fifth subzone is essentially the last distinctive vegetative 

 region on Mt. Gedeh. There is, however, a small area im- 

 mediately surrounding the present crater of Gedeh and extending 

 a short distance down into the crater, which can be regarded as 

 an upper subdivision of the fifth subzone, for here the plants 



Fig. 7. The Javanese edelweiss, A naphalis javanica. The foliage in 

 the right background is that of a young Albizzia montana. The tiny leaves 

 in the left center background are Myrica javanica. The shrubs in front of 

 the edelweiss, center and left, are dwarf Vaccinium varingiaefolium. 



are fewer in number and all greatly dwarfed. The vegetation 

 which is scattered over this waste surface of lava consists of 

 isolated and small stunted specimens of edelweiss, Vaccinium, 

 Rhododendron, Myrica, and another Gaultheria species, G. 

 jragr anils sima. 



Of the multifarious ferns ubiquitously present from the first 

 to the fifth subzone, only one, a dwarf variety of the remarkably 

 adaptable species, Poly podium Feei, remains to occupy the rocky 

 lava floor of the old crater of Gedeh. Representatives of this 

 genus are found in every zone from an altitude of 4,600 to one 

 of 9,400 feet. 



