THE FLORA OF COSTA RICA. 157 



may be seen from San Jose, raising its three summits towards the north, the centre peak 

 towering above the other two. Heredia, one of the largest towns of Costa Rica, lies at 

 the foot of the mountain, about 4000 feet above the sea, and the ground rises so abruptly 

 behind it that the little Indian town of Barba, which is only two miles distant, has a 

 much more bracing climate. Even before the arrival of the Spaniards, the country 

 had been cleared and cultivation had been practised up to 6000 or 7000 feet. At this 

 altitude the ground is covered with magnificent forests, consisting chiefly of Cedrela 

 odorata, Eugenia lepidota, laurels, and oaks ; there are also great numbers of shrubs 

 and undershrubs, most of which are new to science, as Mapouria parviflora, Palicourea 

 mexicana, P. costaricensis, Higginsia psychotricefolia, Montagncea hibiscifolia, Ardisia 

 nigropunctata, Glockeria sessilifolia, Siphocampylus gutierrezii, Berberis paniculata, 

 Oreinotinus costaricanus, and great numbers of Epiphytes, Ferns, Peperomias, and 

 Bromeliads, a proof of the greater dampness of climate here. Above 7000 feet oaks 

 (Quercus costaricensis and Q. granulata) predominate, though at the summit, about 

 10,000 feet, they are quite stunted and are interspersed with such Ericaceae as Gaul- 

 theria cerstediana. Gunnera insignis, one of the most remarkable plants which (Ersted 

 discovered, grows at this altitude. It is the most northern representative of its 

 genus, which is confined chiefly to the Pacific Islands and South America. (Ersted 

 also found a Calceolaria here, a genus belonging principally to Peru and Chili. The 

 crater is situated to the south-east of the summit, and is between two and three 

 hundred feet below it. Its sides are clothed with thick bushes of Psidium costaricense, 

 JJgni cerstedii, Myrsine rapanea, a species of Vaccinium, Gunnera insignis, and several 

 others. At the bottom is a lake, about 200 feet in diameter, its water smelling and 

 tasting of sulphur, and its temperature 52°*25 Fahr. (Ersted visited this volcano in 

 May 1847, and it was explored afterwards by Dr. Hoffmann. 



The Volcan de Reventado, which is about 9300 feet high, lies to the east of the 

 watershed separating the watercourses. (Ersted was the first to explore and deter- 

 mine its volcanic character. It is separated from the Volcan de Irazu by a very 

 fertile valley called Potrero de los Angelos. The country is covered with maize- 

 fields and pasture-lands, and is watered by the little stream of Reventado, which has 

 its source in the lake of the crater. After crossing this stream the road passes, by 

 a somewhat steep ascent, through the lower region of oaks, and through the most 

 luxuriant and diversified vegetation, to which the rich colours of various species of 

 Siphocampylus, Ardisia, Proclesia, and Mahonia give a most attractive appearance. 

 Here were found the remains of a paved road of the period when the Indians were 

 masters of the country. To this succeeds a small plain where the principal vegetation 

 is a species of Paspalum, two Cyperacese (Oncostylis nigricans and Chcetocyperus 

 viviparus), Lupinus clarkei, Castilleja irasuensis, and a species of Alchemilla. On 

 the western boundary of the plain rises the volcano, a dome-shaped symmetrical 

 mountain, very steep and bare. The southern slope of the volcano begins on a 



