22 



A MONTANE RAIN-FOREST. 



List of Characteristic Species Continued. 



ANGIOSPERMJE Continued. 



Cucurbitacese. 



Cionosicys pomiformis (Macf.) Griseb. 

 Campanulacese. 



Lobelia martagon (Griseb.) Hitch. (Tupa 



martagon Griseb.) 

 Lobelia assurgens L. (Tupa assurgens 



(L.) DC.) 

 Lobelia caudata (Griseb.) Urban. (Tupa 



caudata Griseb.) 

 Compositse. 



Vernonia divaricata Sw. 

 Vernonia intonsa Gleason. 

 Vernonia arborescens Sw. 

 Eupatorium dalea (L.) DC. 



ANGIOSPERM.E Continued. 



Compositse Continued. 



Eupatorium critoniforme Urb. 



Eupatorium parviflorum Sw. 



Eupatorium lucidum Ort. 



Eupatorium corylifolium Griseb. 



Baccharis scoparia Sw. 



Bidens coreopsidis DC. 



Bidens shrevei Britton. 



Liabum umbellatum (L.) Sch. Bip. (Lia- 



bum brownei Cass.) 

 Senecio swartzii DC. 

 Senecio fadyenii Griseb. 

 Senecio laciniatus (Sw.) DC. 



THE VEGETATION OF THE RAIN-FOREST. 

 ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RAIN-FOREST. 



The peaks and highly-eroded slopes of the Blue Mountains, in the 

 absence of cliffs and rock outcrops of any considerable size, and in the 

 lack of any disturbance by man, exhibit a forest covering of striking 

 continuity. (See upper slopes of range in plate 5). The color tone 

 of the landscape is a dull mingling of darker shades of green, with a 

 blending of gray on the ridges, where Usnea is common in the open 

 tree tops. Neither among the forest trees nor the smaller constituents 

 of the vegetation are there any conspicuous colors of leaf or flower. 

 Clethra occidentalis occurs in sufficient abundance for its racemes of 

 white flowers to be a somewhat noticeable feature of the autumn land- 

 scape, and at the same season the large yellow flowers of Bidens shrevei 

 cover the crown of trees into which it has climbed, and touches of red 

 are here and there given the forest by the autumn coloration of the 

 two species of Viburnum. The only other showy bloomers of the 

 arboreal flora are Hcemocharis hcematoxylon and Meriania pur pur ea. 

 In the former the flowers are white and in the latter a deep red, and 

 when the two are in bloom simultaneously in the spring they give a 

 touch of color to the otherwise dull landscape. In the interior of the 

 heaviest rain-forest there is an almost utter absence of colors other 

 than green, which with the absence of showy birds and insects gives 

 the forest an air of gloom to which its continual fogginess only adds. 



There are no gigantic trees towering above the general level of the 

 forest, and indeed the stature of the trees is surprisingly small in view 

 of the apparent favorableness of the rainfall and temperature condi- 

 tions. In ravines they may attain to a height of 60 feet, but on the 

 ridges, particularly those at high altitude, the largest individuals of 

 Podocarpus and Clethra seldom exceed 20 feet in height. The combined 

 influences of wind and occasional low water content of the soil may 

 contribute to the low stature of the trees of the ridges at higher alti- 

 tudes, but in general the phenomenon is due to the rapidity of erosion. 



