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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  Florida 
  and 
  California. 
  After 
  having 
  seen 
  cultivated 
  in 
  hothouses 
  

   of 
  our 
  country 
  so 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  native 
  plants 
  of 
  Central 
  America, 
  it 
  is 
  

   interesting 
  to 
  see 
  grown 
  in 
  Salvador 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  native 
  plants 
  of 
  

   the 
  United 
  States, 
  like 
  the 
  gaillardia 
  and 
  the 
  California 
  poppy. 
  

  

  VEGETATION. 
  

  

  The 
  botanical 
  features 
  of 
  Salvador 
  are 
  those 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  writer 
  

   is 
  most 
  interested 
  and 
  to 
  which 
  he 
  has 
  devoted 
  most 
  attention. 
  Two 
  

   of 
  the 
  Central 
  American 
  Republics, 
  Guatemala 
  and 
  Costa 
  Rica, 
  are 
  

   fairly 
  well 
  known 
  botanically, 
  but 
  until 
  1921 
  scarcely 
  any 
  plants 
  

   had 
  been 
  collected 
  in 
  Salvador, 
  and 
  practically 
  nothing 
  was 
  known 
  

   of 
  the 
  flora. 
  The 
  writer 
  spent 
  five 
  months 
  there, 
  visited 
  nearly 
  all 
  

   parts 
  of 
  the 
  Republic, 
  and 
  made 
  a 
  comprehensive 
  collection 
  of 
  the 
  

   plants. 
  

  

  The 
  flora 
  is 
  not 
  so 
  diversified 
  as 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  neighboring 
  

   countries. 
  The 
  area 
  of 
  Salvador 
  is 
  small, 
  and 
  its 
  surface 
  is 
  less 
  

   varied 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  any 
  other 
  Central 
  American 
  State. 
  Moreover, 
  

   the 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  its 
  surface, 
  and 
  particularly 
  that 
  portion 
  which 
  is 
  

   naturally 
  the 
  most 
  interesting 
  botanically, 
  is 
  under 
  cultivation. 
  The 
  

   mountain 
  slopes, 
  where 
  the 
  most 
  interesting 
  plants 
  would 
  be 
  expected, 
  

   are 
  nearly 
  all 
  occupied 
  by 
  coffee 
  plantations, 
  and 
  in 
  many 
  localities 
  

   almost 
  all 
  the 
  natural 
  vegetation 
  has 
  been 
  destroyed. 
  Nevertheless 
  

   in 
  nearly 
  all 
  parts 
  it 
  is 
  possible 
  to 
  find 
  small 
  tracts 
  of 
  land 
  that 
  are 
  so 
  

   rough 
  or 
  otherwise 
  unfit 
  for 
  cultivation 
  that 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  left 
  in 
  their 
  

   natural 
  state, 
  and 
  in 
  these 
  spots 
  one 
  can 
  form 
  some 
  idea 
  of 
  the 
  con- 
  

   ditions 
  originally 
  existing. 
  In 
  eastern 
  Salvador 
  there 
  are 
  large 
  

   areas 
  whose 
  vegetation 
  has 
  been 
  little 
  or 
  not 
  at 
  all 
  changed 
  by 
  man, 
  

   but 
  these 
  lie 
  at 
  a 
  low 
  altitude, 
  and 
  in 
  tropical 
  countries 
  generally 
  

   the 
  plants 
  of 
  low 
  elevations 
  are 
  pretty 
  certain 
  to 
  be 
  less 
  interesting 
  

   than 
  those 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  mountains. 
  The 
  low-altitude 
  plants 
  are 
  

   likely 
  to 
  be 
  widely 
  dispersed 
  species, 
  many 
  of 
  them 
  of 
  a 
  weedy 
  nature, 
  

   while 
  in 
  the 
  mountains 
  there 
  are 
  great 
  numbers 
  of 
  localized 
  plants. 
  

  

  The 
  flora 
  of 
  Salvador 
  is 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  western 
  Guatemala, 
  and 
  

   probably 
  closely 
  related 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  Pacific 
  Nicaragua, 
  although 
  

   practically 
  nothing 
  is 
  known 
  of 
  the 
  latter. 
  Study 
  of 
  the 
  collections 
  

   recently 
  obtained 
  indicates 
  also 
  that 
  the 
  flora 
  bears 
  a 
  close 
  relation- 
  

   ship 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  western 
  Costa 
  Rica 
  and 
  Panama, 
  and 
  there 
  are 
  

   numerous 
  plants 
  in 
  these 
  collections 
  which 
  previously 
  were 
  not 
  

   known 
  to 
  occur 
  north 
  of 
  those 
  countries. 
  So 
  little 
  is 
  known 
  at 
  

   present 
  of 
  the 
  Central 
  American 
  flora 
  as 
  a 
  whole 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  impossible 
  

   to 
  speak 
  with 
  real 
  authority 
  upon 
  the 
  relationships 
  of 
  the 
  floras 
  of 
  

   the 
  different 
  regions. 
  

  

  In 
  general, 
  the 
  vegetation 
  of 
  the 
  Pacific 
  slope 
  of 
  Central 
  America 
  

   is 
  less 
  rich 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  slope, 
  largely 
  because 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  