ORCHID COLLECTING STANDLEY 371 



such wealth that it is still far from exhausted. One rides at first 

 through comparatively level country, planted with coffee and groves 

 of fruit trees, then through fields of corn, until finally one reaches a 

 rather definite line at which there is evidence of a moister climate. 

 Beyond this point there are few cultivated fields, but instead pas- 

 tures full of cattle. La Palma lies in a gap between the volcanoes 

 of Barba and Irazu. The pass between these peaks has an altitude 

 of about 5,700 feet. Through this opening clouds pour from the 

 plains of Santa Clara, which stretch toward the Atlantic coast ; they 

 lodge here and shed their rain. It is said that it is always raining 

 at La Palma. No matter how clear the day at San Jose, looking to- 

 ward La Palma one always sees low-hanging clouds. Riding along 

 the road one comes suddenly into this cloud zone, out of the sunshine 

 into a penetrating fog, with cold drizzling rain, and often an ac- 

 companiment of wind. At night this combination is dismal and un- 

 comfortable beyond description, and even in the day the effect is 

 dreary enough; yet the sun does shine sometimes at La Palma, and 

 then the scene is beautiful. The temperature is so low that one is 

 never comfortably warm. The meadows, mostly of imported grasses, 

 clovers, and other European plants, dotted with dandelions, butter- 

 cups^ and violets, are green throughout the year. The continuous 

 rainfall has saturated the meadows so that they are like sponges 

 soaked in icy water, into which one sinks at each step. There are 

 small rills on every side. About the meadows are banked dark 

 masses of trees, that also fill the uncleared ravines. 



Clearing does not seem to have injured the flora; rather it has 

 probably improved it. Many plants, including some of the most 

 showy ones, do not reach their best development in deep forest, 

 but require a greater amount of light than is available there. These 

 have found a favorable environment at the forest edge. Many 

 orchids belong to this class; indeed, orchids generally, except some 

 of the smallest and most delicate, do not seem to thrive in heavy 

 forest, and in general orchid collecting gives better results at the 

 forest edge and on the isolated trees that dot the meadows. 



Take any one of these trees or one of the old stumps, and examine 

 it at leisure. It will be found that each tree is a veritable flower 

 garden. Each has a flora different from that of its neighbor. 

 The best method of collecting is to take a small area and " comb " 

 the trees, one by one. There is no need to cover a large areai; 

 ability to climb trees is the most important requirement. The trees 

 are small and gnarled, resembling old apple trees. They are of 

 many species, but often it is difficult to determine what the tree 

 itself really is, so nearly concealed is it under a burden of alien 

 v.egetation. There are some true parasites here, mistletoes with 

 masses of yellow or red flowers, but most of the covering con- 



