NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



715 



conspicuous and largest are members 

 of the family Dipterocarpaceae: Bagti- 

 can lauan Parashorea malaanonan Merr., 

 the trunk of which like many of the 

 large tropical trees, is often heavily 

 buttressed; White lauan, Pentacme con- 

 torta M. and R., which like the last 

 yields a soft, easily worked but perish- 

 able wood; guijo, Shorea guiso (Blanco) 

 Blume, which has been much cut for 

 use in construction and is less abundant; 

 and several trees of other families as 

 Malaikmo, Celtis philippinensis Blanco, 

 the fruits of which are flavored like the 

 serviceberry, but are larger; (pili) 

 Canarium luzonicum A. Gray, which 

 yields the pili nut of commerce and a 

 valuable resin. Several species of 

 strangling fig also attain to the top 

 story of this forest. 



About 70 species of figs occur on 

 Makiling ; of these 15 have the strangling 

 habit. The strangling fig, or balite, 

 starts as an epiphyte in the top of a 

 tall tree. Its root system descends to 

 the ground and spreads laterally, form- 

 ing a network about the trunk of its 

 host. The roots that reach the ground 

 perform the ordinary functions of roots. 

 After the network enveloping the host 

 has coalesced, the strangling fig becomes 

 self-supporting by its trunk which com- 

 pletely surrounds and strangles or 

 crushes the tree upon which it started. 

 The genus Ficus is one of the largest in 

 this region. In the Makiling flora there 

 are about seventy species of Ficus, in- 

 cluding nearly half of the total number 

 known in the Philippines. 6 



The tallest trees in the top story of the 

 Makiling High Forest are about 50 

 meters tall, and have a diameter of 

 about If meters. 



The second story is composed of a 

 larger number of species than occur in 

 the first or top story, and they are in 

 general shorter, having a height of from 

 15 to 25 meters. One of the most numer- 

 ous of these is the balobo, Diplodiscus 

 paniculatus Turcz. Several species of 

 Aglaia and Palaquium also are common, 

 as well as the bulala, Nephelium mutabile 

 Blume; and the catmon, Dillenia phil- 



5 Trelease, S. F. and McLean, F. T. Mount Maki- 

 ling as a station for botanical research. Philippine 

 Agriculturist, 8: 6-16, 1919. 



ippinensis Rolfe, which produces acrid 

 spherical green edible fruits, with 

 spirally twisted segments, enclosed in 

 thick flesh scales, also edible. Other 

 interesting trees are the camagon, 

 Diospyros discolor Willd., an ebony with 

 mottled black and light colored wood; 

 the calingag, Cinnamomum mercadoi 

 Vid.; and tangisang biauac, Ficus 

 variegata Blume, with conspicuous 

 smooth scurfy cinnamon-colored bark. 

 Palms are also frequent, the fan palm 

 or anahau, Livistona sp., being par- 

 ticularly abundant toward the upper 

 limits of this zone; also the pugahan or 

 fishtail palm, Caryota cummingii Lodd. ; 

 Pinanga insignis Becc. and Orania 

 palindan. Arenga pinnata Merr., the 

 sugar palm or cabo negro is one of the 

 few introduced species to find a place 

 in this forest. 



Trees and tall shrubs which attain a 

 height of 10 to 15 meters or less are 

 considered as constituting a third story. 

 In this class belong Thea lanceolata 

 (Blume) Poir; species of Leea; Oreocnide 

 trinervis Miq.; Aglaia spp. Under- 

 neath these are shrubs Callicarpa spp. ; 

 Ixora longistipula Merr.; Melastoma 

 fusca Merr., with its pink flowers re- 

 minding one of a wild rose in size and 

 color; and Strobilanthes pluriformis C. 

 B. Clarke, which occurs at all elevations 

 in the forests of Mount Makiling. Ferns 

 and herbs are few on the floor of the 

 forest, specially at low altitude, and 

 the earth is characteristically bare of 

 litter. 



Climbers are a conspicuous element 

 in the vegetation, among the most 

 prominent being the rattans or climb- 

 ing palms, species of Calamus and 

 Daemonorops, which usually have thorny 

 leaf petioles and long slender trailing 

 flagellae with stout, recurved spines, 

 which make progress through rattan 

 thickets both awkward and painful. 

 Climbing bamboos Schizostachyum diffu- 

 sum (Blume) Merr. are also abundant. 



Together with the strangling figs, 

 these climbing monocotyledonous plants 

 seem the most characteristic members of 

 the general vegetation to one who is 



