27 



our knowledge of the Philippine flora was, comparatively speak- 

 ing, somewhat less than our present knowledge of that of 

 Borneo, but was distinctly in excess of our present knowledge 

 of the Sumatran flora as well as that of most other parts of 

 Malaya, except Java and the Malay Peninsula. Intensive explo- 

 ration of the Philippines during the past sixteen years has 

 yielded material on which the descriptions of about 5,000 pre- 

 viously undescribed species have been based, and the field in 

 this respect is by no means exhausted. Current collections of 

 Philippine plants continue to yield a high percentage of plants 

 new to the Archipelago, in striking contrast to current collec- 

 tions of Javan plants, where the percentage of additions to the 

 known flora is very low. Certainly the Philippine flora is no 

 richer area for area than is that of any of the larger islands in 

 Malaya, and what has proved true in regard to Philippine 

 exploration will likewise prove true in the future exploration of 

 the lesser known parts of Malaya. 



It is urgent that such exploration be undertaken at no 

 •distant date if we are to gain an adequate knowledge of many 

 elements of the Malayan flora. It is only necessary to examine 

 most parts of Java below an altitude of 4,000 feet, such islands 

 as Singapore, immense areas in the Malaya Peninsula, and the 

 settled areas generally in the whole Malayan region in order 

 to gain some appreciation of the disastrous eff.ects of man's 

 activities on the floras of these regions. It is a well known 

 fact that where the virgin or primary forest is once destroyed 

 in the Eastern tropics, the areas practically never revert to the 

 original type of vegetation, at least in any reasonable amount 

 of time. If the cleared lands are abandoned, as they frequently 

 .are by the primitive native agriculturist, they are quickly 

 occupied by grass formations, usually lalang (Imperata) ; 

 bamboo formations; or complex second growth forests in con- 

 ;stituent species entirely different from the primary or virgin 

 type. The pressure on the primary forest is rapidly increasing 

 in many parts of Malaya, not only by the increase in the native 

 Malay population, and the resultant demand for more agricul- 

 tural lands, but also in the demands of modern industries 

 for increased production in such commodities as rubber 

 and copra and for other tropical products such as sugar, tobacco, 

 fibers, coffee, tea. and oth^ staples. Since the beginning of the 

 present century immense areas in the Malay Peninsula, in 

 Sumatra, in the Philippines, and doubtless in Borneo and in 

 other parts of Malaya have been denuded of their original 

 vegetation to provide place for modern plantations, and it is 

 safe to asume that most such 'areas will never again be occupied 

 by primary forests. The enormous trees and shade plants 

 characteristic of the primary forest cannot persist under the 



