THE FLOKA OF PANAMA. 167 



alternating with the woods. In addition to the orders already mentioned, the Verbe- 

 naeese, Papilionacese, Ericaceae, and Myrtacese are conspicuously represented. 



"Among other characteristic species collected, I may mention Rubus urticifolius, 

 Echites veraguensis, Thibandia longifolia, Psidium polycarpum, and a beautiful new 

 1 Leguminous ' plant, Picramnia seemanniana *. 



"4. Region of Oaks, Alders, and Agave americanaf, 4200-8000/^. — At this height, 

 as in Mexico, certain plants appear which recall the temperate zone, and which look 

 very strange mingled with the still numerous tropical types. Alpine palms, the Agave 

 americana, peculiar in Chiriqui to this region, and tree-ferns are found as frequently 

 with the oaks and alders as is the bramble. The species of oaks discovered by 

 Dr. Seemann are Quercus glabrescens J, Q. aristata, and Q. bumelioides, and a fourth 

 undescribed species was discovered near the summit of the Cordillera, and are all charac- 

 teristic of this region. A species of alder (Alnus mirbelii), which extends as far north 

 as Guatemala, and recalls the European Alpine alders, is associated with the oaks, and 

 near them grows frequently a palm described by (Ersted (Chamcedorea pacaya), which 

 is found at an altitude of 7000 feet in the Barrancas of the Volcanos." 



Although the foregoing sketch of the vegetation of Chiriqui is very imperfect and 

 obviously incorrect in some of its details, and contains no description of its constituents 

 above 8000 feet, it is sufficient to convey some idea of the composition and distribution 

 of the Flora. It is probable that this article was never thoroughly finished, as we learn 

 that it was delayed a considerable time through the illness of the author. That he was 

 not mistaken in his altitudes is evident from the fact that he contributes a map of the 

 country to the same volume of the " Mittheilungen," and on this map the Volcan de 

 Chiriqui is marked as 11,265 feet high, and the Cerro Santiago, eastward near the 

 Atlantic, as 9274. The highest ridges of the Cordillera proper are, however, between 

 7000 and 8000 feet. 



* Picramnia seemaniana is apparently an unpublished name, and the genus does not belong to the 

 Leguminosse. 



f This, as explained under the distribution of plants of the Agave and Yucca type, should probably be 

 Furcroea. 



X Quercus glabrescens, Seem., non Benth.,= Q. warscewiczii, Liebm., and Q. aristata, Seem., non Hook., 

 = Q. seemannii, Liebm. (vide ' Botany of the Voyage of the Herald,' p. 251). 



