The Philippines is part of the Indomalayan realm, and its flora and fauna is mostly derived from tropical Asia.
Botanically, the Philippines are part of Malesia, a floristic province that includes the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, and New Guinea.
Most of the Malesian flora is derived from tropical Asia, including the dipterocarps, which are the characteristic tree of the Philippine forests.
Elements of the Antarctic flora, which originated in the ancient southern hemisphere supercontinent of Gondwana, are also present, including ancient conifers like podocarps (Podocarpus, Nageia, Sundacarpus) and araucarias (Agathis).
Each group of islands that were linked by land bridges in the ice ages also constitutes a separate faunal region.