Chap. Ill] MOUNTAIN REGIONS IN THE TROPICS 723 



i. WEST JAVA. 



The tropical rain-forest gradually passes over into the temperate forest 

 between 1,500 and 2,coo meters on the slopes of the volcanoes of western 

 Java. The air becomes moist and cold, masses of cloud driven by the 

 wind pass between the tree trunks, and the glorious song of a bird 

 (Muscicapa cantatrix) that lives only in the temperate rain-forest is audible 

 on all sides. The foliage becomes less dense, the leaves smaller, supporting- 

 buttresses disappear as the stems become more massive, lianes and phanero- 

 gamous epiphytes continually decrease in number ; we enter the realm of 

 ferns and mosses, especially the latter. They dominate the forest, par- 

 ticularly in its upper parts. Mosses hang from the branches of the trees 

 in festoons a meter in length and block the way in all directions ; others 

 clothe the trunks with broad thick cushions ; others again form on the 

 leaves delicate cobweb-like nets or dense mats. They do not even neglect 

 the herbs, but hang down in festoons from their stalks and invest 

 their delicate leaves. Wherever the eye turns it encounters only mosses 

 in numerous manifold forms 1 . 



The absolute dominion of mosses first occurs in the upper parts of the 

 temperate forest. Lower down they are accompanied by other epiphytes, 

 but only of a similarly humble growth. These are all species that obtain 

 their nutriment from the bark which is kept moist by the mist. Epiphytes 

 whose roots strike into the ground, and which are so common in the 

 tropical forest, are completely absent. In Western Java the largest epiphyte 

 of these forests is Asplenium Nidus ; in the lower parts of the region its 

 huge funnels are hanging everywhere on the trunks and branches (Fig. 139). 



At most 200 meters below the summit (Pangerango, the higher of the 

 two peaks of the Gedeh, is about 3,000 meters high) the high-forest, which 

 meanwhile has become less lofty in stature, is replaced by elfin-wood. 

 The trunks of the elfin-trees that compose these miniature forests are 

 short and thick, oblique or even horizontal, and emit thick feebly rami- 

 fied branches, which in their sinuous curves become interlaced to form 

 a dense tangle. Only at their extremities do these branches bear scanty 

 leathery foliage, which extends in the form of a flat loose roof over the 

 miniature forest. A strong development of the wood in comparison with 

 the foliage is characteristic here, as is always the case where elfin-wood 

 prevails. 



In the maze of branches I could distinguish Aralia, Myrsine avenis, Vaccinium 

 floribundum (epiphytic in the temperate rain-forest, but a terrestrial plant here), 

 Dicalyx sessilifolius. Solitary dwarf-trees of Anaphalis javanica and a shrubby large- 

 flowered Hypericum did not reach the leaf-canopy. The ground is but scantily 



1 I saw at Argasari in Preanger the finest example of a forest completely garbed 

 in moss. 



3 A 2 



