SEIFRIZ: PLANTS oN Mr. GEDEH, JAVA 299 
alga Oscillatoria, which forms a jelly-like mass, rather resembling 
blubber, some two inches in thickness. Only the surface layer 
of this mass is green. 
IV. THE Vaccintum SuUBZONE 
(8,000-9,000 feet) 
The climb to the crater of Mt. Gedeh or to the summit of 
Mt. Pangerango is made in about two hours from the cabin at 
Kandang Badak situated in the notch between the two peaks. 
The transition from the third to the fourth subzones is very 
abrupt on Gedeh and Pangerango. Tree ferns grow in great 
abundance almost to the very ridge at the notch where the third 
subzone ends. Above this point no tree fern is again met with. 
Castanea, Quercus, and Engelha'dtia, among the big trees of 
the lower subzones, and persisting as smaller trees to the very 
edge of the fourth subzone, are now no longer seen. Podocarpus 
and Schima Noronhae are still present, but in reduced size, and 
greatly in the minority as compared with the other species. 
With change in kind there takes place a pronounced change in 
size and form of the trees. The maximum height here is not 
over sixty feet, and while some gnarled trunk may be more than 
a foot through, the average diameter of the trees is but 8 
inches. Especially noticeable is the irregular shape of the trees 
of this zone (PLATE 17, FIGS. I, 2). Whether the gnarled and 
twisted form of high altitude trees is due to the purely mechanical 
effect of wind or to trying physiological conditions such as high 
evaporation and low light intensity, under which the plants 
must grow, is still an unsettled question. 
The characteristic genus of the fourth subzone is Vaccinium. 
In the upper half of the zone it forms pure stands (PLATE 17, 
FIG. 2), but in the lower half other typical high altit ide trees 
are present. Among these are, Polyosma ilicifolia, Astronia 
Spectabilis, Symplocos sessilifolia, Weinmannia, Eurya japonica, 
and Rapanea avenis, the last a typically high altitude tree 
resembling Vaccinium. The ty de of leaves of the last two genera 
is an instance of a very common characteristic of alpine plants, 
namely, the reduced size, leathery texture, and waxy surface 
of the leaves. 
A tree of unusual interest, occurring near the summit of Mt. 
Sela, is the maple Acer niveum, which attains a maximum height 
of 100 feet. It is the only maple in Java. 
