IX, A. 6 Brown and Mathews: Dipterocarp Forests 425 



dense undergrowth consisting largely of feathery rattans, some 

 of them reaching up among the trees. Scattered here and there 

 are tall palms, while now and then the eye is caught by a large 

 tree with gigantic buttresses, the bizarre form of a strangling 

 fig, a tree trunk covered with fruit, or the long leaves of the 

 epiphitic bird's-nest fern. 



There are, of course, in the forest many curious plants of 

 great interest to the botanist, but these plants are frequently 

 inconspicuous or their peculiar features are such as would only 

 attract a naturalist. They do not influence the general char- 

 acter of the forest, and might readily be overlooked by the 

 casual observer. 



We have discussed the dipterocarp forest as though it were 

 a single type. This is true of the general features such as 

 have been described. The systematic composition of different 

 forests, however, varies considerably. Thus, in the forest on 

 the northern and eastern slopes of Mount Maquiling, Parashorea 

 plicata (bagtican-lauan) is the only dipterocarp present in suf- 

 ficient numbers to give character to the vegetation. On the 

 eastern slopes of Mount Mariveles, at an elevation of about 

 500 meters, Shorea polysperma (tanguile) occurs in much 

 greater numbers than any other dipterocarp. The dominant 

 story of the forest of northern Negros on the banks of Himugan 

 River is composed chiefly of four dipterocarps, Shorea negros- 

 ensis (red lauan), Shorea eximia (almon-lauan), Dipterocarpus 

 grandiflorus (apitong), and Shorea polysperma (tanguile). 

 The differences, here mentioned, are much greater than those 

 between some other forests, as the forests grade into each other. 

 There are, however, almost as many types as there are forests, 

 and it is even difficult to divide them into general groups. For 

 the purposes of this paper it seems best to regard such dip- 

 terocarp forests as are discussed as being of one type with many 

 variations. 



DESCRIPTION OF SELECTED AREAS 



The dipterocarp forest as it occurs throughout the Indo- 

 Malayan region and the Philippines has already been discussed, 

 and now certain selected forest areas in the Philippines will 

 be taken up and discussed more in detail. The forests described 

 below have been chosen not only because they are typical of 

 a large portion of the dipterocarp forests of the Philippines, 

 but also because growth and other silvicultural data which will 

 be used later in the discussion of the management of the dip- 

 terocarp type have been obtained in these regions. Also, these 

 forests are typical of different forms of the dipterocarp type, 



