ix, c, 6 Gates: Pioneer Vegetation of Taal Volcano 399 
a few bushes of Ficus indica and Morinda bracteata; and, on 
rock ledges near the basin level, some ferns, Onychium siliqu- 
losum and Pteris longifolia, and a few plants of Vandellia 
Crustacea. 
North of this crater and north of Mount Pinag-Ulbuan is a 
valley in which the work of erosion is very strikingly well devel- 
oped. Except the deltal fan at the lake, the floor of the valley 
is plantless. On its southern slope, which is an outside slope of 
the crater, the vegetation was very sparse in December, 1913, 
and reached only one-third of the way to the crater rim. By 
April, 1914, the vegetation, although by no means dense, was 
more abundant and extended clear to the rim of the crater. 
Clumps of Saccharum, but particularly, scattered bushes of 
Acacia farnesiana, Ficus indica, Morinda bracteata, Trema am- 
boinensis, Tabernaemontana subglobosa, and Wendlandia luzo- 
niensis, gave a characteristic appearance, which is shown in Plate 
VII, fig. 1. 
Toward the north, vegetation on Mount Mataas-na-golod con- 
sisted nearly entirely of Saccharum in October, 1913, in clumps 
about two-thirds of the way to the top. By December it had 
reached the top, but still was not dense except at low elevations. 
By April, 1914, the entire western, eastern, and northern slopes 
of this peak were covered with a closed stand of Saccharum, 
except the very crest which was largely bare. On its southern 
slope Saccharum was by all odds the characteristic plant, but 
there it did not begin to occupy nearly all of the available space. 
Shrub and even tree invasion into the Saccharum was progress- 
ing rapidly, especially on the north and northeast sides. The 
more conspicuous were Acacia farnesiana, Antidesma ghesaem- 
billa, Psidium guajava, Wrightia laniti, Cordia myxa, Tabernae- 
montana subglobosa, Macaranga tanarius, Bridelia stipularis, 
Ficus nervosa, Albizzia procera, and Callicarpa blancoi. A few 
convolvulaceous vines were represented but Momordica ovata 
was more commonly present. 
Between Mount Mataas-na-golod and Mount Ragatan, farther 
to the northeast, is a long divide, with its steeper slope toward 
the south. This slope was rather densely vegetated with grass 
and invading parang, which is true of the whole of Mount Ra- 
gatan. South of this, on the deltal flat mentioned above, vegeta- 
tion was very scanty, consisting of a few clumps of Saccharum 
on higher places in the flat and the regular strand plants near 
Lake Bombon. 
A long, rather low divide extended northeastward from 
Mount Ragatan to Mount Bignay. All of this region, which may 
