16.4 McGregor: Some Features of the Philippine Ornis 381 
Capsicum frutescens L. ; Chile pepper, Chile, pasites, sili. A native 
of tropical America; now wild and cultivated in all parts of the Philip- 
pines; the fruit is used as a condiment. 
RUBIACE^ 
Coffea arahica L. ; coffee, cafe. A native of southwestern Asia; now 
cultivated in most tropical countries as a source of the coffee bean. 
Ixora finlaysoniana Wall., probably a native of Siam; I. coccinea L., 
a native of India; 7 . chinensis Lam., a native of tropical Asia. Orna- 
mental shrubs. 
CUCURBITACE^ 
Cucurbita maxima Duchesne; squash, calabaza. Probably a native of 
tropical America; cultivated for its edible fruit. 
Luff a cylindrica Roem. ; sponge gourd, patola. Native country uncer- 
tain; cultivated for its edible fruit. 
Citrullus vulgaris Schrad. ; watermelon, sandia, pacuan. A native of 
tropical Africa; a vine, cultivated for its edible fruit. 
Cucumis melo L.; melon. A native of tropical Asia or Africa; a vine, 
cultivated for its edible fruit. 
COMPOSITE 
Artemisia vulgaris L. ; camaria, damong maria. A native of Europe 
and Asia, introduced from Europe for medicinal use. 
In addition to the preceding introduced plants, most of which 
are of much or considerable economic value, there are numerous 
grasses, herbs, and shrubs that have been introduced inadver- 
tently and now persist as weeds. I shall not enumerate any of 
these. It must be clear that the plants found in the vicinity of 
Manila are far from being typical of the endemic flora. 
DESTRUCTION OF THE INDIGENOUS FOREST 
Dr. H. N. Whitford, formerly forester in the Philippine Bureau 
of Forestry, was much interested in the types of forest vegetation 
and in 1906 wrote a paper on this subject. Five years later he 
published the results of his investigation of the entire Archipel- 
ago or so much of it as had been examined from the forester’s 
viewpoint. 
Mr. E. D. Merrill, botanist of the Philippine Bureau of Science, 
has traveled over a large part of the Archipelago and has studied 
Philippine plants as a botanist since 1902. 
The opinions of these two authors with regard to Philippine 
forests are entitled to respectful consideration, and indeed it 
seems unlikely that anyone who has considered the subject in 
the light of fleld experience will question the conclusions in the 
following quotations : 
