302 APPENDIX. 



Mexico bears the name of " templada," and it is the most fertile of all, producing 

 everything that is needful for the sustenance and pleasure of man. It extends over an 

 average vertical range of 2000 to 2300 feet. In the States of Vera Cruz and Tamau- 

 lipas * it commences at elevations of 3250 to 3950 feet and terminates between 5900 

 and 6500 feet ; in Oaxaca and Tabasco it begins and finishes some 600 feet higher. 

 Tree-ferns, Liquidambar, and Stanhopea are highly characteristic. The mean tem- 

 perature varies from about 63° to 66°, and the atmosphere is constantly humid ; hence 

 there is perpetual verdure, and the flora is the richest and most varied in the country. 

 It embraces Jalapa and the surrounding forests, San Andres, Mirador, Chiconquiaco, 

 Totutla, and all the belt of forests which extends from Orizaba to Villa Alta, Tonaquia, 

 Teotalcingo, and up to the Guatemalan frontier f. 



The orchids of this region include nearly all the species of Stanhopea, Mormodes, 

 and Catasetum, Trichopilia tortilis, T. galeottiana, Isochilus latibracteatus, I. crassi- 

 florus, Evelyna capitata, Maxillaria deppei, M. densa, M. hcematochilum, M. cucullata, 

 Epidendrum lindenianum, E. glaucum, E. polybulbon, E. candollei, E. discolor, E. 

 nocturnum, E. rhynchophorum, Oncidium ornithorhynchum, 0. incurvum, Odontoglossum 

 hastatum, 0. maculatum, 0. lindleyi, Physosiphon ochraceum, Dichoea squarrosa, D. 

 echinocarpa, Prescottia sp., Cranichis glandulosa, Physurus brachyceras, and a host of 

 others. Prominent among the plants associated with them are various species of 

 Begonia, Daphnopsis, Citrosma, Symplocos, Bejaria, and Clethra, together with Duranta 

 jalapensis, Choisya ternata, and Thibaudia laurifolia. 



Third Subregion : Temperate, or Region of Sarsaparilla and Jalap. — The abundance 

 of these two medicinal plants suggests the name for the region, which follows the last, 

 but has neither tree-ferns nor Liquidambar. Among the orchid-types which disappear 

 Trichopilia, Mormodes, and Catasetum may be mentioned ; and Stanhopea is rare ; 

 while such genera as Pinus, Arbutus, and Pyrola, and various Rosacea?, characteristic of 

 a colder climate, begin to show themselves. The limits of this subregion are somewhat 

 indefinite, ranging between 5900 and 7200 feet. The commoner orchids are: — Epiden- 

 drum viscidum, E. lactiflorum, E. ligulatum, E. ledifolium, E. lineatum, Barkeria 

 lindleyana, and B. skinneri, growing indiscriminately on oak trees and rocks. 



The slopes of the western cordilleras of Mexico, descending to the Pacific Ocean, 

 and the whole of the detached mountain masses and ramifications in the States of 

 Mechoacan, Jalisco, Puebla, Mexico, and Oaxaca, present an enormous extension of 

 temperate region in which the flora generally is different from that of the eastern or 

 Atlantic side of the cordillera. Liquidambar is wanting, and tree-ferns comparatively 

 rare ; but the most striking feature is the large number of species of oak, which often 

 attain colossal dimensions. The orchids which live on the oaks are mostly different 



* We are unaware that Galeotti had any personal knowledge of this State, and the references to it here 

 and elsewhere in this sketch are not in accordance with ascertained facts, except for the sea-board. 



t Of course it is now very well known that this region should include similar districts of Guatemala. 



