BOTANICAL NOTES. 649 
leagues, its average breadth ten, and its elevation above the 
sea 8,800—10,000 feet. 
Above the farm of Callo, the two chains of the Andes are 
united by a transverse ridge, known by the name of the Pa- 
ramo of Tiopullo or Knot of Chisinche. Its elevation is 
scarcely 2,000 feet above the plain of Callo to the south, and 
that of Machachi towards the north. On the right hand side 
the view is bounded by Cotopaxi, of which the plain of 
Callo forms the base, and the rocky and precipitous summits 
of Ruminavi, occasionally sprinkled with snow. On the left 
is Eliniza, with its two snowy peaks. "The intervening space 
is scarcely a league in breadth. The top of the “ paramo,” 
nearly level, is clothed with a short grassy turf, enamelled 
with the purple flowers of a pretty Gentian, (No. 18), and the 
white Hypocheris sessiliflora. The inferior limit of the 
Gentian is 11,000 feet; but it is one of the few blossoms that 
adorn the barren soil of Cotopaxi, reaching very nearly to 
the snow boundary. 
No other species occurs on this line of road, excepting the 
insignificant G. limoselloides, (No. 14), growing on the boggy 
meadows of Machachi. Gentiana, (No. 16) scarcely ever occurs 
below the level of 15,000 feet, and is common to most of the 
Andes. G. Jamesoni, (No. 13), has only one locality that I 
know; that of Pichàn, on the western side of Pichincha, 
12,500 feet. G 
The Swertia (No. 91), occurs on all the Andes, betwixt the 
level of 12,000 and 14,000 feet. 
The flowers of the Gentians exhibit in this country almost 
every variety of colour—red, blue, purple, yellow, and white. 
Of sixteen species with which I am acquainted, one half are 
red, four purple, two blue, one yellow, and one white. In 
Europe, I believe, blue is the colour that predominates. 
ScROPHULARINA, 
The table-land on which Quito is situated, presents many 
features of similarity to the northern countries of Europe. The 
city is constructed on a narrow neck of land, on what may 
