PESSIN: EPIPHYLLOUS PLANTS OF JAMAICA 3 
with, or on the north side of Cinchona Hill largely replaced by, 
Hedychium coronarium. 
During the wet season Canchonn is enveloped in clouds for days 
at a stretch and the rains are very heavy and frequent. In spite 
of this abundance of moisture at certain times of the year, epi- 
phyllous plants are rather scarce on the south side of Cinchona 
Hill. Only one hepatic, two species of algae and a few kinds of 
lichens were found growing there. Of these Trentepohlia grows 
in damp or shaded places on the ground, on the bark of trees and 
on the leaves of certain plants. Lichens, the most common of 
which belong to the genus Sticta, grow abundantly on certain 
plants. Some of the leaves of Callistemon lanceolatum, for instance, 
are almost completely covered by this lichen. In a few cases the 
leaves of Hedychium were found sprinkled with a reddish disk- 
like alga belonging to the genus Phycopeltis. The epiphyllous 
flora of this region is evidently not a rich one (see TABLE I, A). 
At Morce’s Gap, two miles north of Cinchona and at about 
the same level, is found a characteristic tropical montane rain 
forest. Here moisture is abundant at all seasons of the year. On 
the windward side of the mountains everything reeks with mois- 
ture; clouds drift constantly through these dense forests and rain 
falls frequently during eight months of the year. The dense 
vegetation, except on the ridges, is usually dripping wet. Very 
rarely do the sun’s rays penetrate to the floor of these forests. 
Ferns carpet the floor and cover the walls of the steep-sided 
ravines. Tree ferns, such as Alsophila and Cyathea, are very 
common, many of them having trunks four or five inches thick and 
thirty feet high or more. Species of the genera Marattia, Danaea, 
Polypodium and Elaphoglossum are very abundant. Such forms 
as Blechnum attenuatum and many species of T rich , Hymeno- 
phyllum, Polypodium and Elaphoglossum have been compelled to 
adopt either the climbing or the epiphytic habit in the intense 
competition for sunlight. Podocarpus, Hedyosmum, species of 
Piper and many other dicotyledonous trees and shrubs, together 
with numerous herbaceous plants, are scattered through these 
woods, increasing the struggle for existence and making the 
competition for light more keen. 
In such an environment epiphyllous plants are very abundant. 
