309 



mountain. Without differentiating here between the drier and 

 wetter areas its most conspicuous features are the bracken {Pteris 

 ^quilina), the large tussocks of Polytrichum, and the beds of 

 Sphagnum. Amongst the most frequent flowering plants are 

 Anagallis tenella, Erythraea Massoni, Hydrocotyle vulgaris, 

 Luzula purpiireo-splendens, Lysiviachia iiemorum (var. azorica), 

 Polygala vtdgaris, Potentilla tormentilla, Sihthorpta europaea, 

 Thymus Serpyllum (var. angustif alius), Viola palustris, and 

 €arex flava. Lycopodium Selago is common, and there is an 

 occasional scrub of Calluna vulgaris. 



With regard to the prevailing climatic conditions it may be 

 stated that the cloud-belt or rainy zone (2000-5000 ft.) corres- 

 ponds roughly to the Juniper and Daphne zone and to the belt 

 of the Upland moors. With reference to the higher levels between 

 «000 ft. and the summit (7600 ft.), although the character of 

 the surface would primarily determine the type of plants adapted 

 for such a rocky station, the choice would be further limited to 

 plants capable of withstanding in a relatively dry atmosphere the 

 :fierce rays of the sun in summer, the severe cold of winter, and 

 the stormy winds that prevail around these heights in certain 

 seasons. 



Whilst the rainfall would be much less than in the Juniper 

 zone and in the moors, its deficiency would be partly compen- 

 sated for by the heavy dews. The amount of sunshine must be 

 considerably greater on the high levels than in the woody zone 

 below. The mere concealment of the "peak by the clouds when 

 xiewed from the coast by no means always implies that the summit 

 is cloud-capt. Not infrequently, when the author had reached 

 the upper limit of the cloud-belt through a driving wet mist, he 

 found the upper third of the mountain exposed to the full glare 

 of the sun under a clear sky and rising out of a billowy sea of 

 clouds of dazzling whiteness like an island in the midst of arctic 

 snows. 



Although the daily range of temperature would be greater, it 

 is very probable that the monthly means of the temperature of 

 the air in the shade on the higher slopes of Pico would approxi- 

 mate tliose for the elevated region of Dartmoor in the south-west 

 of England, between 1500 and 2000 ft. above the sea, a range, 

 let us suppose, of from 33^ in January to about 58^ in July. 

 8now comes and goes on the peak at intervals during the winter 

 and may lie for some time ; but it is rarely of any depth except in 

 the drifts. Its lower limit is generally about the 4000-ft. level; 

 ■and in this connection it should be noted that on the summits of 

 the other large islands, all of which reach a height of from 3000 

 to 3500 ft. above the sea, snow rarely lies. It' is always winter 

 ior the people of the Western Azores whilst Pico wears its white 

 cap. During the Miter's stay on the mountain, from the second 

 week of March to the second week of April, 1913, snow fell on at 

 least three occasions ; and for most of the time the peak was white 

 with it. Different ascents were made up the snow-covered slopes, 

 and in one of them (April 1st) he gained the summit. 



General Account of the Vegetation. — Coming to a general 



account of the vegetation of Pico, and reversing the customary 



