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DOI SUTEP

Doi Sutep, the closest mountain
to Chieng Mai, has been made
easily accessible by a
road recently constructed to
its summit. Three
noticeably distinct life
zones offer an excellent
practice of northern Thailand
vegetation. Typical moss
forest, found on a few of
Thailand's peaks at higher elevation
in wetter zones, is lacking on
the summit of Doi Sutep, a
bit over 4500 ft in elevation.
Collecting stops were made
at various levels in the
three major zones. The weather
left no doubt of the presence
of the rainy season; at no
time was the sky clear and
seldom did the sun shine for
more than a few minutes.

The vegetation is obviously
adapted for a distinct dry
season, however, though during
this month, with the monsoon
nearby in full swing, all

the life zones displayed rich
leaf growth.

STOP 279 - THAILAND:
E. SLOPE, DOI SUTEP, 560 METERS
VII-15-62
800 species

The lowest life zone on
Doi Sutep is a deciduous
woodland typical of low
northern Thailand hills. Oaks,
teak, Shorea, or Shorea-like species, and
other broad-leafed trees partially
or fully deciduous, together
with large bamboo clumps
on some exposures, comprise
the flora between 20 and 40 ft.
in height. The trees are not
close together, the foliage is
rather loose and open, allowing
full sun to hit much
of the slope. During the rains
the ground is covered with
herbs, grass clumps, small
bamboo, and small tree seedlings
& bushes; on the more exposed
slopes grass is not common,
grows in clumps spaced
farther apart, leaving exposed
patches of ground.