A BOTANICAL TRIP TO ECUADOR, PERU, AND BOLIVIA 



By A. S. Hitchcock 



[With 15 plates] 



In order to obtain direct information concerning the grasses of 

 the central Andes region a trip was made in 1923 to Ecuador, Peru, 

 and Bolivia, leaving Washington in May and returning in February. 

 The work was primarily for the Department of Agriculture but 

 that done in Ecuador was in cooperation with the Gray Herbarium 

 of Harvard University and the New York Botanical Garden. 



ITINERARY IN ECUADOR 



Arriving at Guayaquil June 16, several days were spent in estab- 

 lishing connections. Dr. F. W. Goding, our efficient consul general 

 at this city, was very helpful throughout my stay in Ecuador. 

 Through the courtesy of Mr. Orr, geologist, and Mr. Clark, manager, 

 five days were spent at a camp between Guayaquil and Salinas 

 where a well was being sunk in search for petroleum. After collect- 

 ing a few days in the vicinity of Guayaquil, headquarters were re- 

 moved to Huigra on the railroad to Quito at an altitude of 4,000 

 feet. Three excursions were made from Huigra to the coastal plain. 

 The first was to Ingenio Valdez, near Milago, a sugar plantation 

 and factory, of which Sr. S. Perez Conto is manager. Mr. Meigs, 

 superintendent, and Mr. Platts, chemist, are Americans. Mr. Pa- 

 chano, an Ecuadorian botanist, aided greatly here in the collecting 

 of material. The second visit was to Teresita, a plantation owned 

 by Mr. J. A. Cleveland, an American long resident in Ecuador. 

 This plantation lies in a very wet belt at the foot of the mountains. 

 The third visit was to the Panigon plantation, 8 miles south of 

 Milago. The manager of this plantation is Mr. James Rorer, the 

 well-known mycologist, formerly of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture and of Trinidad, West Indies. 



After collecting several days at Huigra, headquarters were trans- 

 ferred to Quito July 31. August 5 to August 15 were occupied by 

 an overland trip to Tulcan at the Colombian border, accompanied 

 by Mr. J. R. McWilliam, of Quito, who was friend, guide, and in- 

 terpreter. The route lay through La Providencia, Otavalo, Ibarra, 



335 



