﻿NO. 7 



SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I926 



109 



(Hymenophvllaceae) were found in extraordinary abundance not 

 elsewhere equaled. 



To the east of Portland Gap similar exploration was carried out 

 all the way along the trail to Blue Mountain Peak, the most extended 

 trip being one of three days to the Peak itself (7,428 feet) and the 





Fig. 117. — One of the rare tree ferns (Cyathea Harnsii), 

 known only from the summit of Blue Mountain Peak. 

 (Photograph by Alexander F. Skutch.) 



deep forest sink between that and Sugarloaf Peak. Here a number 

 of locally endemic ferns were collected, and observations made that 

 will be of decided value in future exploration of the heavily forested 

 northern slopes. At the Peak the panorama in all directions unfolds 

 superbly, and one better realizes from the extremely broken topog- 

 raphy why progress in exploration has been so slow. From this great 

 height the sea, to north and south, lies only 12 or 13 miles away. 



