MOLAVE TYPE 



155 



A dry season and consequent falling of the leaves is also charac- 

 teristic of the lauan-apitong type. This is, in fact, the main 

 character which separates it from the lauan type. Otherwise, it 

 occupies much the same sort of sites, the foothills below an eleva- 

 tion of 400 meters above sea level. Ordinarily, no durable 

 woods occur in this type but 42 per cent of the average stand of 

 28M feet per acre are the harder dipterocarps suitable for interior 

 framing and cabinet purposes. The soft dipterocarps compose 

 26 per cent of the stand. 



The remaining dipterocarp type, the tanguile-oak type, has 

 not yet been so thoroly studied as the other types because it is 

 not so important commercially on account of its relative inacces- 

 sibihty. It occupies the middle mountain slopes between the 

 lauan and lauan-apitong types and the mossy-forest type at ele- 

 vations between 400 and 900 meters above sea level. Tanguile 

 is the important species commercially. Its wood is fairly soft 

 but not durable so that it is mainly used for interior construction 

 purposes. 



The composition of the dipterocarp types is summed up in the 

 following table: 



COMPOSITION OF DIPTEROCARP TYPES 



Molave Type. — The molave, a near relative of teak and a sub- 

 stitute for it, gives its name to a type which occurs on dry lime- 

 stone sojls where the drainage is so rapid that there is insufficient 

 moisture for dense growth even tho the dry season is short. The 

 type does not occur at elevations greater than 500 feet above sea 

 level so that the temp)erature conditions are always tropical in 



