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NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



a thick cuticle or covered with a more or 

 less dense and wooly indument. The 

 flowers are, on the average, exception- 

 ally large and brilliant. Many of the 

 smaller species have naked stems, the 

 leaves being concentrated at the base 

 in the shape of a rosette or cushion. 

 The shrubs are either crowded together 

 or cling tightly to the surface of the 

 rocks and soil. 



The inferior and superior limits of 

 the paramos vary greatly with the local 

 conditions. The former is as low 1 as 

 1700 meters in the Paramo del Morro, 

 Me"rida, while the upper line coincides 

 with the extreme superior limit of 

 vegetation, which has not yet been 

 accurately determined. According to 

 Dr. Jahn's collections, the belt of 

 Espeletias extends from 2100 to 4550 

 meters, and 13 species of other phanero- 

 gams and vascular cryptogams are 

 known to grow above 4200 meters. 

 Polylepis sericea, the tree which 

 reaches the highest altitude in 

 the Venezuelan Andes, has been found 

 by the same explorer at 4150 meters. 



A legion of interesting plants is 

 scattered over our paramos, so diligently 

 explored by Dr. Jahn. Foremost among 

 them are the above named Espeletias 

 or "fraile jones" of which no less than 

 16 species have been recognized. They 

 are all quite erect plants, varying in 

 size from a few decimeters (herbaceous) 

 to trees several meters high, and all 

 more or less covered with a filmy coat 

 of a white, yellowish or greyish color. 

 Shrubby Ericaceae (V actinium, Pernet- 

 tya, Gaultheria) often form large colo- 

 nies, while quite a number of genera, 

 such as Gentiana, Geranium, Arenaria, 

 Cerastium, Bartsia, Plantago, Oenothera, 

 Epilobium, etc., appear at first sight 

 familiar to the alpine botanist. The 

 tropical element is represented mainly 

 by several groups of the Melastomaceae 

 (Miconia, Chaetolepis, Monochaetum, 

 Tibouchina) . 



The flora of the upper belt of the 

 Coast Range though not unlike 

 that of the Andes in its general aspects, 

 is very distinct in specific composition. 



Up to the present, only some 30 species 

 of vascular plants have been found to 

 be common to both regions, while 

 nearly 50 (including 10 lichens and 7 

 mosses), have been only reported from 

 the Coast Range. It is too soon, 

 however, to draw conclusions. Among 

 the species peculiar to the latter 

 system, we cite Eupatoria sillense, 

 Gardoquia discolor, Chusquea Spencei 

 and Pariana inaequalis ; the last species 

 is known also from Guiana, and seems 

 to reach its western limit here. 



The order of sequence of families, 

 with reference to the number of their 

 species growing above 2000 meters, is 

 found to differ greatly from that noted 

 for the high savannas. The Compositae 

 come first with 82 species, then the 

 Polypodiaceae (45), the Gramineae (41), 

 the Melastomaceae (39), etc. 



3. Fauna (H , B. B.). Among the 

 birds, Henicorhina leucophrys, Diva 

 vassourii, and Colaptes rivolii appear 

 to be quite characteristic of the sub- 

 alpine bushland. From the paramos 

 themselves, the following, among others, 

 have been cited by Ernst : Sarcoramphus 

 condor, Diglosa gloriosa, Conirostrum 

 sitticolor, Eriocnemis vestita, Cinclodes 

 fuscus, Synallaxis gularis, Pseudoco- 

 laptes boissoneautii, Margarornis squami- 

 gera, Ochthoeca superciliosa, Heliochera 

 rubrocristata, Buarremon schistaceus, 

 Chlorospingus ignobilis, C. goeringi and 

 Phrygilus unicolor. An opossum (Mar- 

 mosa dryas) and a coati (Nasua olivacea 

 meridensis) have been described from 

 an altitude of 4000 meters in the Sierra 

 de Merida, and the bear (Tremarctos 

 ornatus] is said to occur in the Sierra 

 de Merida. 



III. GUIDE AREAS 



1. General 



New York City (9 days), Red "D" 

 Line (82 Wall Street), direct from Porto 

 Rico to La Guaira. The Dutch line also 

 runs boats between New York and La 

 Guaira. Alternate steamers from Cur- 

 agao proceed (one day) to La Guaira, and 

 (3 days) to Puerto Cabello (}), while the 

 others (smaller) to (one day) to Mara- 



