The Philippine Journal of Science 



EXTENT OF BAGUIO 



The interesting work of Doctor Smith in the vicinity of Mount 

 Data, which he has kindly permitted the writer to use in this 

 paper, demonstrates that Baguio Plateau extended in a northerly 

 direction for at least 120 kilometers. How much farther north 

 it extended, future exploration may reveal. Concerning the 

 southerly and easterly extent of Baguio Plateau no definite evi- 

 dence is available, but from the researches in another field of 

 science, that of botany, some idea may be gained. 



DEVELOPMENT 



The temperate-zone aspect of the trees and scenery of Baguio 

 Plateau interest all Americans who visit this unique spot, and 

 the origin of this flora stimulates scientific imagination. If it be 

 truly a temperate flora, at what geologic time was it established 

 and how was it maintained during the Pleistocene? Is it 

 possible that the flora demonstrates that high mountains have 

 been present in northern Luzon since the beginning of the 

 Miocene? A really temperate flora could scarcely survive the 

 warmth of the Philippine lowlands even of Pleistocene time. 

 Such were the questions the writer brought to Mr. E. D. 

 Merrill. In reply Mr. Merrill has written the following state- 

 ment: 



The flora of the Benguet-Bontoc region, an area essentially characterized 

 by the dominance of a species of pine, Pinus insularis Endl., is in 

 striking contrast to that of other parts of the Philippines, presenting very 

 numerous northern types that do not occur elsewhere in the Archipelago 

 and indicating a derivation, so far as these northern types are concerned, 

 from the central mountain mass of Asia, many of the same types being 

 found in China, Japan, and the Riu Kiu Islands, and most of them in 

 Formosa. Northern Luzon and Formosa, in numerous cases, present the 

 most southern and eastern extension of the Himalayan flora, many of 

 the Himalayan types found here not extending into the Malay Archipelago. 

 Practically all of the Himalayan types found in northern Luzon also 

 occur in Formosa, as noted above. 



About five hundred species of plants in the higher groups are known in 

 the Philippines only from the Benguet-Bontoc region, indicating a distinctly 

 specialized flora. Approximately three hundred fifty of these, or 70 

 per cent, are endemic so far as the Philippines are concerned, while 

 the remaining 30 per cent are found outside of the Archipelago, chiefly 

 in India, China, Japan, and Formosa. A very few species and genera 

 extend south' of the Mountain Province on the higher mountains, some 

 even occurring at higher altitudes in Mindanao, and a few extend as far 



