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SEIFRIZ: PLANTS ON MT. GEDEH, JAVA 
Here, in the second subzone, which we have just entered, the 
vegetation first really assumes the aspect of a tropical rain- 
forest. 
G: The monarch of the 
second hte Podocarpus im- 
bricatus. vine on the trunk 
tive shown is Sapiin, the veteran 
plant collector of Tjibodas, who 
knows the Sundanese name of 
every cd plase |; in these moun- 
tain forests 
Lianes are more numerous. 
The undergrowth is less 
orderly (but by no means a 
’ a word which is so often 
and so erroneously used to char- 
acterize tropical vegetation). Trees, 
rocks, and soil are moss-bedecked; 
and all is reeking wet, actual bogs 
being met with under foot. 
Some plant forms of the first 
subzone are still abundant, but 
others are no longer seen and new 
forms take their place. The great 
rasamala is rare. Podocarpus is 
its successor (Fic. 5). This tree is 
the only conifer, in fact the only 
gymnosperm, indigenous to Mt. 
Three species of Podo- 
tends into the two adjacent zones, 
especially the upper one, it is in 
this second subzone that it is most 
abundant and reaches its maximum 
size, fully 5 feet in diameter. 
Podocarpus is the monarch of 
the second subzone, as was Altingia 
of the first, but other very large 
trees are also numerous. Especi- 
ally fine is Engelhardtia (E. serrata 
and E. spicata). This big tree re- 
sembles the rasamala in size and 
pe, but its small lanceolate 
sha 
leaflets give to its lofty crown a different and lacy appearance. 
Another large tree common to this and the adjoining third sub- 
zone is Schima Noronhae, the 
‘“poespa’’ of the Javanese. Its 
good-sized, showy flowers are often seen sprinkling the ground 
with spots of white and yellow. The figs, oaks, and chestnuts 
