﻿Il8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 78 



consists of a great mass of high mountains separated by steep-sided 

 forested valleys, across which travel is nearly or quite impossible. 

 Each valley and mountain possesses plant species all its own, hence 

 many decades of exploration will be needed to exhaust this narrowly 

 limited portion of the American tropics. 



BOTANICAL EXPLORATION IN NORTHERN HAITI 



Further field-work in Haiti was undertaken in November, 1925, 

 by Mr. K. C. Leonard of the division of plants. U. S. National 

 Museum. This work was fostered by Dr. \V. L. Abbott, who in 

 recent years has made a number of visits to Hispanioia, procuring 

 much valuable material in several branches of natural history. The 

 botanical specimens collected on these expeditions will ])e studied in 

 the preparation of a flora of Hispanioia which is now under way. 



Mr. Leonard commenced the winter's work in the vicinity of St. 

 Michel, using as headquarters, with the permission of Mr. G. G. 

 Burlingame, a house belonging to the United West Indies Corporation. 

 With the invaluable assistance of Mr. F. C. Baker of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture and Mr. E. J. Sieger, Manager of 

 the Atalaye Plantation at St. Michel, it was possil)le to reach this 

 region almost immediately after arrival at Port au Prince. The 

 plantation is situated three miles east of St. Michel on the northern 

 edge of a large savanna. During the winter season these plains are 

 covered by a dense growth of a tall reddish-yellow grass, TJicuicda 

 quadrivalvis, a native of Africa. It is of no value as a forage crop 

 and is a serious menace to the plantation buildings, since fires started 

 by Haitian farmers are constantly breaking out, and sweep rapidly 

 over considerable areas. The principal crop raised on the plantation 

 is tobacco ; both cotton and sugar cane were tried but did not thrive 

 in the black mucky clay of the savanna. A large number of Haitians, 

 four hundred to three thousand, according to the season, are employed 

 to assist with the crops, and, judging from the melodious cadences 

 drifting in from the drying barns and fields, they find happiness as 

 well as a congenial occupation. 



The comparatively meager flora of the plains being soon exhausted, 

 excursions were made to the neighboring mountains, the nearest of 

 which, Alt. La Mine, lies a short distance to the north. Its arid, 

 thicket-covered slopes produce many unusual plants. Of great interest 

 in this region are several caves whose floors are covered by a thick 

 layer of dust, debris, and fragmentary bones of an extinct fauna. 



Other mountainous regions, more distant but accessible by horse- 

 back, were Mt. La Cidre, Mt. Platanna, both southwest of St. 



