CHAPTER XXXII 



THE WEST COAST OF SOUTH AMERICA 



The littoral floras of the West Coast of South America. — The Convolvulus 

 soldanella zone of Southern Chile. — The plantless or desert zone of 

 Northern Chile. — The Sesuvium zone of Peru. — The Mangrove zone of 

 Ecuador and Colombia. — The two varieties of Rhizophora mangle, the 

 " mangle chico " and the " mangle grande." — The floating vegetable drift 

 of the Guayaquil River. — The Humboldt current and the climate of the 

 West Coast of South America. — The advance northward of the arid 

 climatic conditions of the Peruvian sea-border. — The retreat of the man- 

 groves. — Evidence of ancient coral reefs on the coast of Peru. — The shore 

 plants and stranded seed-drift of the Panama Isthmus. — Summary. 



My acquaintance with the strand-flora of the west coast of 

 South America began at Corral, the port of Valdivia, in Southern 

 Chile in lat. 40 S., and terminated at the mouth of the Guayaquil 

 River, in Ecuador, about 2° south of the equator. During the 

 period] December 23, 1903, to March 17, 1904, I examined the 

 coast plants at sixteen localities in this region, which covers 38 

 degrees of latitude and thus measures about 2,300 miles. Travel- 

 ling in a steamer to Callao that was trading on the coast I had 

 opportunities of staying for periods ranging from half a day to a 

 couple of days at a considerable number of places ; and a week 

 spent at Valparaiso gave me a good opportunity of examining the 

 beaches north and south of it. At Lima 1 spent some weeks, and 

 from that centre examined the shore-plants at Callao, Ancon, and 

 Chancay to the northward. North of this I had not the same 

 opportunities, until we passed the Peruvian and Ecuadorian 

 boundary ; but from a visit to the shore at Paita, from the general 

 look of the country in places as we coasted along, and from 

 information derived from other sources, I was able to obtain a fair 

 general idea of the prevailing character of the beach plants. After 

 my previous experience to the southward, one could fairly gauge 



