NATURAL HISTORY OF COSTA RICA RIDGWAY. 317 



of the potrero but can convey no conception of the striking and har- 

 monious color-scheme, in which, no less than in variety of its com- 

 position, consists the glory of tropical vegetation. Almost every 

 tree here has its own peculiar hue of green; a deep dark, almost 

 olive, green predominates, but some trees are blue-green, some yellow- 

 green, some nearl}' golden, others almost russet, according to the 

 species. Most of the trees support flowering vines, epiphytes or 

 parasites (orchids, bromeliads, aroids, mistletoes, etc.), while some 

 bear showy flowers of their own ; one tree especially, an Erythrina, 

 with bright scarlet flowers, was much frequented by humming 

 birds. In some places, mostly on the moister slopes or on the 

 sides of ravines, grow clumps or groves of beautiful tree ferns, of 

 half a dozen or more species, some of them 30 to 40 feet high. I very 

 much regret that my attempts at photographing these were failures, 

 on account of underexposure. In very wet or marshy tracts are 

 large caladiumlike aroids whose immense leaves more than once 

 served as a shelter from hard showers ; one had only to sever the stem 

 with a machete and use the leaf as umbrella. Nowhere else have I 

 ever seen so great a variety of ferns. These were mostly epiphytic, 

 growing on trunks and branches of trees, on stumps and old logs, 

 as well as on the ground. During one of my tramps I happened on 

 a stump which was completely covered with growing plants, ferns 

 predominating. These exhibited such variety that it occurred to me 

 to see how many kinds of ferns there were; when I could find no 

 more that were different, I counted 21 species ! 



The hacienda of El Paraiso is about 3,000 feet above Coliblanco 

 (9,680 feet above sea level), near timber line on Turrialba. The 

 name, meaning "The Paradise," is well chosen, for it seemed that 

 the very climax of beauty was there attained. The air was cool and 

 bracing, though at night much too cold for comfort. At times each 

 day clouds from over the Caribbean Sea drifted in and enveloped 

 everything in a wet, impenetrable fog, so dense that one could not 

 see the nearest objects, and therefore had to remain stock-still until 

 the cloud had passed. The intervals of bright sunshine were fre- 

 quent, however, and of longer duration; and it was then that the 

 prospect was surpassingly lovely. Several hundred acres had been 

 completely cleared of all undergrowth and many of the trees as 

 well, and the ground sown with European pasture grasses, produc 

 ing the effect of a large, well-kept park, with long vistas through 

 clumps and groves of wonderfully beautiful trees, over lawns of 

 vivid green, cropped close by grazing cattle and studded with butter- 

 cups, daisies, sweet violets, and other European flowers, sprung from 

 seed mixed with that of the imported grasses. But there never was 

 a northern park with such trees — so beautiful in form or foliage, or 



