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NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



through Haiti and Jamaica; but the 

 separation must have occurred also in 

 remote times. As to a supposed union 

 of Cuba with Bahama Islands and in- 

 directly with Florida, it seems to have 

 never occurred; according to N. Taylor 

 and Britton and Millspaugh the Bahama 

 Islands are young geologically, and the 

 species which they have in common with 

 Cuba and Florida have likely been 

 transported from one to another by 

 natural agencies of winds, migratory 

 birds, or oceanic currents. 



Cuba itself has floral elements of 

 distinctly heterogeneous origin. The 

 flora of Pinar del Rio is very little like 

 that of Oriente, and since remote times 

 and during a long period, at least up 

 to the Miocene, Western Cuba was surely 

 isolated from Eastern Cuba. Even 

 in the Eastern part of the Island, there 

 are two quite distinct floral elements, 

 that of the Sagua-Baracoa mountains, 

 little like those of neighboring coun- 

 tries, and that of Sierra Maestra. This 

 mountain range has many species in 

 common with Hispaniola, Porto Rico 

 and Jamaica, with which islands it was 

 formerly united. Of these four actual 

 islands, Jamaica has a flora less like 

 those of the other three, and according 

 to Urban must have been separated 

 first ; then, according to Arldt came the 

 disjunction of Cuba and Hispaniola 

 through the Windward Passage, prob- 

 ably at the beginning of the Pliocene. 



NATURAL REGIONS 



The series of parallel mountain chains 

 which traverse the Island from West 

 to East are covered with semi-deciduous 

 forests; but, according to Dr. Ekman, 

 true tropical rain forest does not exist 

 in Cuba, except, may be, in the Baracoa 

 region, where one tree of the Brazil 

 rain forest is growing, Carapa gui- 

 anensis. 



If we take into account the geological 

 constitution of the different parts of the 

 Island and their corresponding peculiar 

 flora, we may divide Cuba in three main 

 regions: Western, Central and Eastern 

 Cuba. Western Cuba may be divided 



in three subregions: Pinar del Rio, 

 Isle of Pines, and Havana-Matanzas, 

 younger geologically. Central Cuba 

 has three natural subregions: the flat 

 Col6n region. Las Villas, hilly or moun- 

 tainous, and the Camaguey plain. 

 Eastern Cuba may be also divided into 

 three subregions: the northern flat or 

 hilly portion, and the two more moun- 

 tainous parts of the Island, the Sagua- 

 Baracoa mountains and the Macaca 

 range or Sierra Maestra. 



Pinar Del Rio 



Its axis is the Organos Range, of a 

 Jurassic dark limestone including many 

 species of Ammonites: Perisphinctes, 

 Idoceras, Ochetoceras, etc. which have 

 been found near Viiiales. Fossils of 

 fishes have also been collected there. 

 This characteristic mountain range with 

 its many vertical escarpments resembles 

 from the distance the pipes of an organ, 

 hence the name "Organos." These 

 peaked hills, or "Mogotes," support a 

 very interesting flora, characterized by 

 the "Palma de Sierra" {Gaussia prin- 

 ceps), Anthurium venosum, Elaphrium 

 Shaferi, Gesneria rupincola with brilliant 

 red flowers, the curious palmlike rutacea 

 Spathelia Briiion, and by one of the 

 oldest living plants, the "Palma Corcho" 

 (Microcycas calocoma), which may be 

 found in many "mogotes," near El 

 Sumidero, and also north of Conso- 

 laci6n del Sur. The biggest tree of 

 this natural area seems to be Juglans 

 insularis. These "Mogotes" of the 

 Organos range are one of the most 

 notable malacological regions; a great 

 variety of snails: Chondropoma, Cho- 

 anopoma, Cistula, Megalomastoma, He- 

 lix, Helicina, Urocoptis, etc., are found 

 there. 



The highest peaks of Organos range 

 are: Pan de Guajaib6n, 2500 ft., Loma 

 de Miracielo, Loma del Pendejeral, 

 some peaks of Sierra de Vinales, and the 

 Mogote Grande of the Guacamayas 

 Range, little less. The steep and 

 generally nearly inaccessible peaks are 

 undisturbed natural areas or approxi- 

 mately so; in different places they might 



