BOTANICAL EXPLORATION IN EASTERN COLOMBIA 



By ELLSWORTH P. KILLIP. 



Assislaiit Curator, nivisi(Vi of Plants, U. S. National Jlliisniiii 



Little is known of the ])lant life of the luistern Cordillera of Colom- 

 bia north of the Bogota region. No expeditions from the United 

 States had previously visited the area, and the collections of the few 

 European botanists to penetrate this not easily accessible region — Lin- 

 den, Kalbreyer, Karsten, Funck and Schlim — consist mainly of the 

 more showy plants. Moreover, very few of these specimens have found 

 their way into American herbaria, so in continuation of the botanical 

 exploration of northern South America, begun in 1917 jointly by the 

 New York Botanical Garden, the Gray Herbarium of Harvard Uni- 

 versity, and the National Museum, Mr. Albert C. Smith, collaborator 

 in the Division of Plants, and I spent the winter of 1926-1927 in 

 Colombia, mainly in the eastern mountainous region. In the present 

 enterprise cooperati(jn was extended also by the Arnold Arboretum. 



In arranging for the trip and in carrying out our i>lans valuable 

 assistance was received from the Colombian Minister to the LTnited 

 States, the Pan American LTnion, the United Fruit Company, the 

 governors of the various departments visited, and the representatives 

 of several American commercial houses in Colombia. 



We arrived at Cartagena October 29, 1926, and spent several days 

 collecting at La Popa and Boca Grande and on Manga and Tierra- 

 bomba Islands, all of which are botanically historic localities in the 

 vicinity of the port. Turbaco, a village at the crest of the low hills 

 east of Cartagena, was our next base. Flere Humboldt and Bonpland 

 spent several days before ascending the Magdalena River on their 

 way to Quito, and it is the type locality for several species. Though a 

 considerable part of the land is at present under cultivation, dense 

 woods still remain to the westward and nearly impenetrable thickets 

 cover considerable areas. Particularly interesting were the mud 

 volcanoes, about nine miles from Turbaco, where we made fairly large 

 collections. 



A three days' trip up the Magdalena River next brought us to 

 Puerto Wilches, the terminus of a railroad which eventually will 

 reach into the heart of the Eastern Cordillera. Collections were made 



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