in. BOTANICAL NOTES ON THE VEGETATION OF THE 

 HIGH MAESTRA. 



The following brief notes are presented by permission of Dr. 

 N. L. Britton, Director of the New York Botanical Garden, with- 

 out whose help many of the determinations in this paper would 

 have been impossible. 



The varying moisture conditions on the southern side of the 

 High Maestra predicate at least two groups of plant formations, 

 namely, those which come under the influence of the moisture-laden 

 Northeast trade winds (the plants of the high elevations and north 

 exposures) and those which do not. Some species are distributed 

 generally without reference to moisture conditions, but it is to 

 differences in moisture conditions, rather than to those of tempera- 

 ture or altitude, that we must look for the reason of the great varia- 

 tion in the plants of these opposite situations. 



Of those that occur only in the lee of the Maestra, there are 

 some that must be considered tj^pical strand or sea-beach plants, 

 plants of wide distribution along the coasts of the West Indies. 

 Of these Coccoloha uvifera, Ipomoea Pes-Caprae, Canavalia obtusi- 

 folia, Guilandina crista, and one or two wiry grasses were the com- 

 monest. Much of the coast, however, is not sandy, but consists of 

 granite pebbles of all sizes. In such places all the above species 

 are found, as well as independent plants of Clusia rosea, which is 

 usually parasitic farther from the sea, and also Bursera Simaruha, 

 Cyperus ligularis, and a species of Conocarpus, which is a par- 

 ticularly common shrub along the beach. These and the usual 

 tree species of the Mangrove swamps found along the wetter por- 

 tions of the coast are joined by the common herbaceous weeds of the 

 West Indies. 



Going back from the shore one finds the usual profusion of 

 tropical weeds and littoral trees and shrubs, which being found 

 everywhere in the West Indies, it is unnecessary to discuss, except 

 to note that they appear to be more luxuriant at the eastern than 

 at the western end of the region examined. Down the coast towards 

 the west, where the country is well within the lee of the higher) 

 part of the Maestra, the lack of Piperaceae, Araceae and other 

 moisture-loving plants; and the occurrence of at least two species 



