
Plant life in the Philippines changes considerably with elevation.
Lowland tropical forests can contain completely different vegetation from the cooler, wetter forests found in mountainous areas.
The country's geography creates many separate environments across relatively short distances.
This helps explain why Philippine plant diversity is so high despite the country's relatively limited land area.
A climb up a mountain can therefore expose a traveler to several different plant communities in a single journey.
© National Museum of the Philippines