16,4 McGregor: Some Features of the Philippine Ornis 401 
which grow in profusion on every shrub and tree so that their 
stems and branches are entirely hidden. The tree species are 
fewer than those of the lower and more level forests. The trees 
of the mossy forest are small; for the most part their trunks 
and branches are slender and are so twisted and distorted as 
to be useless for commercial lumber. Many of the individual 
trees are so covered with moss that the branches and the 
smaller trunks appear to be two or three times their actual 
diameters. The forest is so crowded with inclined and twisted 
trunks, which are hidden beneath a dense growth of ferns and 
herbaceous plants, that walking is difficult. On the steeper 
slopes progress is slow and laborious and in places is dangerous 
if not nearly impossible. All of this vegetation is almost con- 
tinuously saturated with moisture. 
On the higher ridges and the summits of many peaks the veg- 
etation is much dwarfed, tree species being reduced to mere 
shrubs. Mount Pulog is an exception to this rule, for above 
the mossy forest its summit protrudes entirely free of shrubs 
and trees, the only vegetation here being a thick carpet of small 
grasses, sedges, and herbs. 
In the ascent of Mount Pulog four main types of vegetation are noted, 
the first three of which are characteristic of the entire Benguet-Lepanto 
region, the fourth being apparently entirely confined to Mount Pulog. 
The steep slopes leading up from the river are covered almost entirely 
with grass, although scattered broad-leaved shrubs and small trees are 
found in the gullies and stream depressions ; this grass-covered area extends 
to an altitude of about 1,200 m. The second formation encountered is 
an open forest belt in which the pine {Pinus insularis Endl.) is the 
characteristic tree, which extends upward to an altitude of about 2,200 
m. The third formation, the mossy forest, extends from the upper limits 
of the pine region to an altitude varying from 2,500 m to 2,600 m. The 
fourth formation, the open, grass-covered summit, extends from the upper 
limits of the mossy forest to the top of the mountain. Mount Pulog is 
apparently the only peak in the entire region that has an area of grass 
land succeeding the mossy forest; all the other peaks are forested to the 
summit.^ 
Brown’s description of the changes in vegetation on Mount 
Maquiling can be appropriately included at this point. In his 
summary Brown says:®^ 
The vegetation on Mount Maquiling shows a gradation from a tall 
forest at the base of the mountain to a dwarfed mossy one at the summit. 
Between elevations of about 100 and 600 meters there is a tall diptero- 
“ Merrill, E. D., and Merritt, M. L., Philip. Journ. Sci. § C 5 (1910) 
294. 
“ Vegetation of Philippine Mountains. Bureau of Science, Manila 
(1919) 414. 
