“300 SEIFRIz: PLANTS ON Mt. GEDEH, JAVA 
Among the large lianes at this altitude are Vaccinium 
varingiaefolium, (V. Teysmanni), Lonicera Loureiri, and Schefflera 
lutescens. 
The genus Vaccinium is remarkable because of extreme poly- 
morphism; it exists as a tree, shrub, or liane, and may be either 
terrestrial or epiphytic. Five species occur on Mt. Gedeh: V. 
varingiaefolium, V. coriaceum, V. lucidum, V. laurifolium, and Bs 
ellipticum. V.varingiaefolium is the most polymorphic of them 
all. It may be shrub, tree or liane and may grow terrestrially 
or epiphytically. As a liane it was formerly known as V. Teys- 
manni. In this form it is found in the lower half of the fourth 
subzone (PLATE 17, FIG. 1). In the upper section of the zone 
it occurs only as a tree to the almost complete exclusion of all 
other tree species. So far as I am aware botanical science is 
totally ignorant of the cause of such polymorphism. In the 
case of the pitcher plant Nepenthes, a conceivable factor is 
moisture, since the dwarf form is found in bogs and the liane form 
grows on dry soil. The same factor may possibly play a part 
in determining the form of Vaccinium varingiaefolium, since the 
liane is found only in the relatively moist lower half of the fourth 
subzone, while in the much drier upper section the species 
occurs as a tree. Schefflera lutescens may also occur as tree OF 
liane. 
The shrub Rhododendron is very abundant in this open, 
high altitude forest. There are three species: R. retuswm with 
red flowers, R. cilium with large yellow flowers, and R. javanicum 
(the most common) with very large, orange-red flowers. This 
last species is especially interesting because of its presence here 
at 9,000 feet as a terrestrial shrub, although equally abundant 
as an epiphyte at Tjibodas 4,000 feet lower. 
Herbs of the third subzone types are still numerous in this 
higher region. Especially noticeable is the blue color of flowers 
and fruits. Very prominent are the cobalt and pale green 
blues. The berries of the shrub Lasianthus lucidus, a rubi- 
aceous plant, are of the former color, while the clusters of berries 
of Dichroa febrifuga, one of the Saxifragaceae, are a rich dark 
blue. The flowers of this plant are of a striking pale blue color. 
But the finest of the blue flowers is that of the orchid Dendrobium 
Hasseltti. Indeed, while I am inclined to give first place to 
Impatiens platypetala as the most beautiful of all the mountain 
