﻿NO. 5 SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, \i)22 63 



Polo, a small settlement in the mountain region west of Barahona 

 City, is situated on the edge of a long flat valley ahout one mile wide, 

 evidently at one time the hottom of a lake. Just east of this village 

 the Loma de Cielo rises to a height of 4,200 feet, while four miles 

 northeast of Polo the Loma la Haut reaches an elevation of 4,500 

 feet. The former is covered with wet forests, while the timber of 

 the latter is rather poor, having suffered from l)oth the hurricane 

 of 1905 and numerous recent forest fires. Forest fires have almost 

 entirely destroyed the pine forests about !Maniel Viejo, south of Polo, 

 leaving nothing but dry scrubby thickets and bare slopes. 



Exploration in the region of San Francisco de Macoris was con- 

 fined to the vicinity of Lo Bracito, a small village on the southern 

 slopes of Ouita Espuela. These slopes are covered by humid thickets 

 and forests, having, in fact, a reputation of being one of the wettest 

 spots in the Dominican Republic and consequently affording a flora 

 rich in ferns and mosses. 



A collection of over 3,000 plants was procured, nearly 50 per cent 

 of which are cryptogams. Many of the flowering plants collected 

 represent shrubs and timber trees that are likely to prove of great 

 interest. 



Although the results of this expedition were chiefly botanical, 

 Dr. Abbott collected also in other branches of natural history, his col- 

 lections including specimens of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, land 

 shells, insects, and earthworms, as well as a small assortment of 

 archeological material. 



BOTANICAL EXPLORATION IN CENTRAL AAIERICA 

 Botanical exploration in Central America during 1921 and 1922 

 was made possible by the cooperation of the Gray Herbarium of 

 Harvard University, the New York Botanical Garden, j\Ir. Oakes 

 Ames, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Mu- 

 seum. It was undertaken in order to obtain material for use in the 

 preparation of a flora of Central America and Panama, which is 

 now under way. Mr. Paul C. Standley left Washington in December. 

 1921, going by way of New Orleans to Guatemala, and directly to 

 the Republic of Salvador. 



Salvador, although the smallest of the Central American republics, 

 has been the least known botanically, and previously hardly any 

 collecting had been done there. With the fullest assistance of the 

 Salvadorean Department of Agriculture, especially that furnished 

 by Dr. Salvador Calderon, it was possible to make extensive collections 



