370 ANNUAL EEPOP.T SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1924 



of plants it is certain that the flora is of the highest interest. Col- 

 lecting orchids here is attended with much the same difficulties as 

 upon the Pacific coast, for the plants perch upon the highest branches 

 Avhere they can scarcely be reached. When one is so fortunate as to 

 find an area, recently cleared, where the fallen trees liave not yet 

 been burned, a large collection may be gathered in a short time. 

 Some of the orchids grow low upon the tree trunks, and can be 

 reached from the ground. It is not uncommon to find orchids 

 normally terrestrial that have here taken to growing upon tree 

 trunks, 



HIGHLANDS OF CENTRAL COSTA RICA 



It is to the mountains one must travel if large quantities of 

 orchids are to be seen, and there not even the least energetic collector 

 can fail to find them. Of all Costa Rica, the central uplands are the 

 most attractive part. The climate in many localities is ideal, and 

 the landscape sufficiently varied and pleasing to satisfy the most 

 fastidious visitor. All or nearly all the usual tropical insect and 

 other pests are left behind, and one may wander about with less dis- 

 comfort than in most parts of the United States. There are so many 

 beautiful places that it is impossible to determine which should head 

 the list. What can be lovelier than the Valley of Orosi, south of 

 Cartago; or Cartago itself, lying at the foot of the Volcano of 

 Irazu? Central America is rich in cities with beautiful sites, but 

 none of them can surpass the Costa Rican capital, San Jose. 



This portion of Costa Rica has a temperate rather than a tropical 

 climate. Freezing temperatures are unknown, but upon the tops of 

 the high volcanoes frosts occur. In this temperate belt and just 

 below its lower limits, or even in the colder upper belts of the moun- 

 tains, orchids attain their greatest profusion. All this region was 

 once covered by dense humid forest, no doubt, but now large areas, 

 in fact the greater portion, have been cleared to make way for the 

 coffee fincas which furnish the chief wealth of the country. At still 

 higher altitudes the forest has been replaced by meadows over which 

 graze the herds of cattle that are the basis of a substantial industry 

 in milk, cheese, and butter, such as has been developed nowhere else 

 in Central America. 



The abundance of material here available for study under such 

 exceptional physical conditions must arouse the enthusiasm of any 

 botanist. The variety of plants is so great that at first one is over- 

 whelmed, and can only wander about bewildered and unable to 

 fix attention upon any particular plant. 



Only a few hours' ride from San Jose over a good road brings one 

 to La Palma (pi. 19), a classic locality for Costa Rican plants, vis- 

 ited by almost every botanist who has worked in Costa Rica, yet of 



