Floea of South America. 103 



science, and others more correctly described by one who 

 has dwelt forty years among the Andes. The last zone of 

 vegetation nearest the snow-line consists chiefly of yellow- 

 flowering Comjpositce. In fact, this family includes one 

 fourth of the plants in the immediate vicinity of Quito. 

 The next most numerous family is the Lahiatoe, and then 

 follow Legummosce and Gentians. Although the Eosacece 

 is represented, there is not one species of the genus Rosa 

 not even in the whole southern hemisphere. The magnifi- 

 cent Befaria, found in the lower part of the valley, is call- 

 ed " the Eose of the Andes." Fuchsias may be considered 

 characteristic of South America, since they are so numer- 

 ous ; only one or two kinds occur in any other part of the 

 w^orld. Flowers are found in Quito all the year round, 

 but the most favorable months are December and May. 

 Yellow is the predominating color. The higher the alti- 

 tude, the brighter the hues of any given species. Thus the 

 Gentiana sedifolia is a small, light blue flower in the low- 

 lands, but on the Assuay it has bright blue petals three 

 times as large and sensitive. This accords with Herschel's 

 statement : " The chemical rays of the spectrum are power- 

 fully absorbed in passing through the atmosphere, and the 

 effect of their greater abundance aloft is shown in the su- 

 perior brilliancy of color in the flowers of Alpine regions." 

 America is plainly the continent of vegetation; and 

 wherever the vegetable element predominates, the animal 

 is subordinated. We must not look, therefore, for a large 

 amount or variety of animal life in the Ecuadorian for- 

 ests. Time was when colossal megatheroids, mastodons, 

 and glyptodons browsed on the foliage of the Andes and 

 the Amazon ; but now the terrestrial mammals of this trop- 

 ical region are few and diminutive. They are likewise old- 

 fashioned, inferior in type as w^ell as bulk to those of the 

 eastern hemisphere, for America was a finished continent 



