134 The Botanical Gazette. [May, 



cinchona plantations are frequently seen. We saw several 

 more or less ruined drying-floors which were formerly used 

 for drying the coffee. These were made by paving or cement- 

 ing a square of level ground in a sunny situation. 



As has been noted by most travelers in tropical regions 

 the most striking feature of the vegetation to a person coming 

 from the north, is the varied character of the flora. One 

 rarely sees areas in which one species is conspicuously pre- 

 dominant. No one type is able to exclude others by force of 

 numbers as in temperate climates. Another effect is the ex- 

 tension of the flowering season of a given species. There is 

 to be sure, a season during which most of the flowers are pro- 

 duced, but one is almost sure to find stragglers in bloom at all 

 times of the year. 



Compared with the central United States, we find in Jamaica 

 several exotic orders largely represented, as Malpighiaceae. 

 Melastomaceae, Myrtaceae, andPiperaceae. Others of which 

 we have but a few outlying members are there in abundance; 

 as, Apocynaceae, Acanthaceae, Rubiaceae, Laurineae, Aroid- 

 eae and the genera Solarium, Ipomoea and Croton. One can- 

 not fail to observe also the more familiar orders Malvaceae. 

 Leguminosae, especially Cassia and Mimosa, and a great var- 

 iety of ferns. Ferns in the swamps; ferns on the arid rocks; 

 ferns that are epiphytes; ferns that are climbing, either on 

 trees by rootlets, or over bushes p*r"by recurved spines; ferns of 

 all sizes and shapes from the great tree ferns with fronds ten 

 feet in length down to the wee species, an inch long, growing 

 in the moss on its trunk. Aroideae will also attract attention, 

 especially large leaved Philodendrons, climbing the tallest 

 trees, and sending down long air-roots, which hang suspended 

 like ropes, in fact they are used by the natives instead of 

 ropes. The innocent looking Canna-like, but much dreaded, 

 dumb cane 12 is another interesting member of the order. 



Orchids are abundant, especially the epiphytic species 

 To see great bunches of these, many kinds in full flower, and 

 the assortment of Tillandsias, or wild pines perched all along 

 the branches of a half dead mango or silk-cotton tree, is a 

 beautiful and, to the collector, usually a tantalizing sight. 



On the other hand many orders, large at home, are scarcely 



J 



Cary- 



ophylleae, Rosaceae, Umbelliferae and the genus CareX 



13 Dieffenbachia Seguine. (Aroid.) 



