654 BOTANICAL NOTES. 
species prefer the boggy meadows of the inhabitated table 
lands. No. 281 and 282 are from the pasture grounds of 
Quito. All the species, however, seem to be limited by 
the central zone of shrubs, (13,000 feet). Beyond these, 
where the region of grasses, or ** pajonal" commences, they 
are succeeded by Ottoa enanthoides, (No. 119), a plant re- 
markable for the structure of its leaves, resembling in shape 
those of the common onion, but divided into distinct trans- 
verse cells. Tt inhabits the rocky soil of Pichincha, where 
vegetation is otherwise scanty. I have not been on the spot 
cited by Humboldt, where it is said to grow at the moderate 
elevation of 1,200 toises (vide Syn. Pl. v. 3,'p. 101); 
whereas I have invariably found it beyond the limit of culti- 
vation. Between 10,000 and 14,000 feet of elevation we . 
have Fragosa aretioides, adhering to the rocks in large 
patches of a bright green, resembling, in the form and 
arrangement of its leaves, some of our alpine Saxifrages. 
Near the summit of Pichincha we meet with an Apium, (No. 
120), smelling exactly like celery. Another species, hardly - 
distinct, is found on the Cotopaxi. There are specimens of 
both in the collection. = 
The most important plant belonging to this tribe is the 
* Aracacha” or “ Zahanoria,” (a species of Apium) cultivated 
for the use of the table. The roots are about the thickness 
of a carrot, and when boiled are not at all unpalatable. 
ERICE# AND VACCINIEJE. 
I have mentioned elsewhere, that the superior limit of the 
Cerealia is succeeded by a zone of shrubs and small trees, 
with shining coriaceous leaves, many of which represent the 
two allied Orders of Ericee and Vacciniee. The first of these 
is almost wholly comprehended in the single genus, Gaul- 
theria, none of which, however, vegetate below the level of 
9,000, nor transcend that of 13,000 feet. Neither do they, 
like the North American Andromede, grow in peat bogs OT 
morasses ; but, on the contrary, they are all natives of a dry 
soil, and some of them even penetrate the crevices of rocks- 
