OCULAR OBSERVATION

The Makiling Botanical Garden, situated near the University of the Philippines Los
Baos Museum of Natural History, houses a variety if specimens indicative of the countrys
rich biodiversity. Various parts of the Botanical Garden exhibited a multitude of flora found in
the Philippines. The plants ranged from the mosses found in the forest floor to the towering
emergent trees.
A wide array of vegetation is immediately noticeable at the gardens entrance. A bat
flower can be found near the main entrance. It has dark, bat-like petals that are typically a deep
shade of violet before they dry up. The King of Philippine Trees can also be seen prominently
near the entrance. Its trunk is covered by a thick, woody bark. It grows several meters off the
ground and has bright orange flowers that resemble that of the Ixora.
A fern tree can also be seen towering a few meters within the garden gate. It possesses a
stalk with numerous leaf scars. Several more meters away is a member of the Gabi family. It has
a distinctly striped petiole that sets it apart from the other plants found with the botanical garden.
Further inspection of the area would also reveal the presence of a tree endemic to the Philippines:
the Mangkono. Despite being only several centimeters thick, the tree is actually known to have
the hardest wood.
Immediately distinguishable by its long, slender, candle-like fruits is the Candle Tree. Its
fruits grow directly from its trunk, in portions not covered in leaves. This is known as cauliflory.
The Candle Tree fruits are initially green but turn yellow when they reach maturity.
As was seen in the Makiling Botanical Garden, there are four forest layers. The bottom-
most layer is also referred to as the forest floor. In the forest floor, lined with dried, fallen leaves,
various diminutive plant and animal organism can be found. Among the most common are the
bryophytes, typically green mosses. These mosses grow very close to rocks and most commonly
in moist places. They were only a few centimeters tall and coat most of the enormous rocks
found near the forests river.
Following the forest floor is the understory. The understory has small to medium-sized
trees. There are also short, woody shrubs around the area. The trees and other plants in this area
tend not to receive as much sunlight due to the forest canopy. The forest canopy is the third
forest layer. It is a thick layer of trees that form a contour overhead. Above this canopy is the last
and highest forest layer called the emergent. It comprises of the tall trees that stick out from the
layer of the thick canopy. These trees are wrapped in epiphytes that compete for the light source.
The plants mentioned above are only a few of the otherwise great variety of species in the
Makiling Botanical Garden.