As usual, the first step in the expedition is to meet my local collaborators at the Philippine National Museum in Manila, the capital city. Dr. Domingo Madulid is the curator of the Philippine National Herbarium, and Ms. Maribel Agoo is Plant Conservation Officer at the Biodiversity Information Center.

Together, we plan an itinerary to explore some high mountains in the Cordillera Central that have been rarely visited by botanists, and make voucher specimenst to document the remaining natural vegetation in these areas. We also collect seeds and cuttings for Stybing's Southeast Asian Cloud Forest. We begin our journey in Baguio, gateway to the mountains of Luzon...