BOTANICAL NOTES. 659 
received the name of “el Torito.”  Cyrtochilum pardinum 
is a native of the alpine forests of Cuenca and Loxa. 
The cattle farm of Surucucho, verging on the paramo, 
over which is traced the main road to Naranjal, presents a 
greater number of the more minute species than any other 
locality with which I am acquainted. We have a description 
of these from the able pen of Professor Lindley ; and though 
important for the advancement of botanical science, I doubt 
much whether they will be ever seen in a living state. The 
genus Stelis, of which there is a vast number of species, is 
less affected by cold than the generality of plants belonging 
to this tribe; some of them vegetating on the perpendicular 
cliffs of Pichincha, as high as 12,000 feet. On the western 
side of the Andes they accompany the forest-trees to a more 
considerable elevation. 
Two zones seem particularly well suited for the production 
of Orchidee. The first, and most extensive, is that just 
described, from 10,000 to 8,000 feet. The other is the forest 
land skirting the coast, and extending upwards to nearly 
1,000 feet. In the alluvial country of Guayaquil there 
are many fine plants belonging to this family. 
From the elevation of 6,600 feet downwards to within 
a few leagues of the coast, the country is a vast unbroken 
forest, forming overhead a dense leafy canopy, through 
which a transient sunbeam scarcely ever penetrates. The 
soil, perpetually deluged with rain, is strewed with leaves 
and timber in a state of decay, exhaling a peculiar vegetable 
odour, and, as in Choco, infested by venomous reptiles. 
Rare and beautiful Cryptogamia (Trichomanes and Hymeno- 
phyllum, Mosses, and Jungermannia) clothe with a mantle of 
lively green the trunks of these gigantic trees, forming 
a strange contrast with the naked soil underneath. There is, 
in fact, no space for the growth of herbaceous plants. The 
excessive moisture, with a perpetual diurnal twilight, are cir- 
cumstances perhaps opposed to their development. They 
would be suffocated by the luxuriant vegetation of the forest. 
A few plants only of Vijao, (Heliconia Bijai) spring from the 
