xvin CANELOS TO BANGS 169 



NOTE ON THE VEGETATION OF THE MONTANA 



OF CANELOS 



The circumstances under which I travelled pre- 

 vented me paying any attention to the phaenogamous 

 plants, nor did I throughout the journey see any 

 large tree in flower, save two or three times a 

 species of Laurel. After the first two days from 

 Canelos, I was much struck by the abundance and 

 variety of the ferns and mosses : every day I saw 

 ferns new to me. The scarcity of tree-ferns was 

 notable, since around Tarapoto, at the same alti- 

 tude, I had seen such abundance and variety of them. 



Between Alapoto and Rio Verde I first came 

 on a tree-fern growing gregariously ; it was a 

 species of Cyathea, with a stout trunk, and I cannot 

 distinguish it from a Tarapoto species. 



Among the stemless species was a handsome 

 Marattia, and I was much struck by twining species 

 of several genera. In an excursion since made 

 (October) as far as Mount Abitagua, I have, how- 

 ever, been able to gather several of these ferns. 



Among the mosses what I most remarked was 

 the great abundance of Hookerise, which was indeed 

 equally notable on the Upper Bombonasa. 



The most abundant palm, as far as Mount 

 Abitagua, was Iriartca vcutricosa, and up to this 

 point extends the YVettinia, but west of the 

 Abitagua it entirely disappears. 



In descending the western side of that mountain 

 I first saw the noble Wax palm, Iriartca and ic it a, 

 which is said to exist in some abundance on the 

 ridges running down south from Llanganati. Be- 

 tween the Topo and Rio Verde there is a good 



