BOTANICAL NOTES. 647 
possesses, in a striking manner, the property of instantly 
closing its blossoms on being slightly touched by the 
finger; and so completely is this effected, that one hardly 
recognizes the same plant which, a few moments before, was 
expanding its deep azure flowers to the sun’s rays. Itisa 
curious circumstance, that cold, or probably some other 
cause connected with atmospheric rarefaction, should, in 
this instance, excite vegetable irritability. The reverse 
happens with respect to the Mimose, many of which are 
natives of the temperate mountain region ; yet none of these 
contract their leaves on being touched ; while other species of 
the same family, abundantly distributed on the sultry 
savannah that borders the coast, manifest that property in 
a very remarkable degree. : 
Leaving the village of Guaranda, (9,060), we immediately 
commence the ascent of Chimborazo, over which lies the 
main road to Quito. Gentiana cernua, (No. 17), presents itself 
about half way up, and to an admirer of Alpine vegetation, 
and more particularly of the elegant and important tribe 
under consideration, it must prove a valuable acquisition. 
Its flowers are numerous, of a bright scarlet, and very large 
in proportion to the size of the plant. It reaches to nearly 
the termination of the ascent. There, we also meet with 
a middling-sized tree, certainly one of the hardiest, since it 
thrives best on the elevated rocky passes of the Andes, 
where, every night, vegetable life is subjected to a freez- 
ing temperature: I have seen it on the western declivities of 
these mountains, as high as 14,000 feet; Iallude to Poly- 
lepis lanuginosa. 'The epidermis hangs in tatters from its 
cinnamon-coloured trunk, often rent by fissures, as if it had 
been blighted by the elements; and its pinnated foliage, 
of a sombre green hue, is very different from those 
brilliant tints that enliven the forests of the low coun- 
try. 
The highest point of the road is the “arenal” elevation, 
14,049 feet above the coast. 'The snowy summit of "the 
