﻿NO. 7 SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I926 lOI 



in that island, paying particular attention to certain areas in the 

 difficult Blue Mountain region, which rises to nearly 7.500 feet. 



The ferns of Jamaica were among the first to be described from 

 the New World, but in many instances the names originally given 

 them came later to be applied loosely to related but distinct kinds 

 from other regions, with much resulting" confusion. To afford 

 a proper basis for studying the diverse fern floras of tropical America 

 as a whole, it thus Ijecomes of prime importance to know thoroughly 

 that of Jamaica, an end that can be attained, naturally, only with the 

 aid of adequate material. 



Of the 500 species of ferns and fern allies described or known 

 from Jamaica nearly all are found in recent large collections brought 

 to American herbaria from that island ; yet there are a few collected 

 by Sir Hans Sloane in the latter part of the seventeenth century, 

 and by Swartz about a hundred years later, that still are known only 

 from the original specimens preserved in European museums. Pres- 

 ent field-work is concerned therefore in the re-discovery of these 

 '■ lost " species and of other very rare ones described more 

 recently, but equally also in the discovery of new kinds, and in 

 assembling data as to the tlistribution, characteristic habitats, habits 

 of growth, and inter-relationship of those other species that are 

 comparatively well known. 



The equable temperatures and surpassing beauty of the IJlue 

 Mountains are proverbial. What is not appreciated by the traveler 

 or the novice in botanical collecting is that the absence of springs 

 and streams above 5.000 feet, the almost complete lack of trails and 

 habitations, the steep, often precipitous character of the forested 

 rocky inclines, and extremely fickle weather conditions make ex- 

 ploration difficult and laboriously slow. Approach must be through 

 the drier coffee-producing regions on the south side of the range, 

 except for two trails that cross at either end. nearly 25 miles apart ; 

 the wet northern slopes, from 1,500 feet to the top of the higher 

 peaks, present an vmbroken forest which can hardly be easier of 

 penetration today than at the time of discovery. 



It happens thus that our knowledge of the high mountain fern 

 flora — which invariably in tropical regions is more luxuriant and 

 diverse than that found at low elevations — is based mainly upon 

 material collected on several peaks and in a few high passes near 

 the former botanical station at Cinchona (5,000 feet) and on Blue 

 Mountain Peak itself. The extremely rugged eastern end of the 

 range and almost the whole heavily wooded north slope, with its 



