134 
Epidendrum, is also very abundant and in late February adds 
much color to this rather dreary region. 
he low coast is fringed with red mangrove, back of which 
the white mangrove and the buttonwood, Conocarpus, predomi- 
nate, the latter in the white, silky-leaved form as well as in aes 
form with smooth, green leaves, the two varieties seemingly b 
connected by various intermediates. Poisonwood, ie, 
black olive, Bucida, are also very abundant, the latter 
highly valued by the Cubans, who call it ‘‘Jucaro” on account 
of its hardness and durability. A palm, Copernicia, is sparingly 
scattered through this region, as well as many other trees and 
shrubs not seen farther inland, except when the two forests are 
joined, when one finds an intermingling of the trees common to 
both regions. To the westward, toward Pilota, is a large lagoon 
and salt marsh, but only the usual plants of such formations were 
observed there. About Pilota, however, the ground is somewhat 
higher and the forest resembles more closely that surrounding 
La Gloria, only in its more depressed areas it is even richer in 
epiphytic plants and contains many ferns. 
The Maximo River, the principal stream of this region, was 
visited from its mouth upward. It is low and sluggish for some 
distance, and with the exception of occasional small slippery 
places, called ‘‘alligator slides,” for these reptiles are quite 
abundant, it is fringed by the red mangrove, the predominating 
tree back of it being the white mangrove in very large specimens. 
On the whole, this region was rather disappointing, although a 
few plants not observed elsewhere were obtained. I also had 
the satisfaction of seeing the two large ferns Acrostichum aureum 
and A, excelsum (A. lomarioides) growing almost side by side, the 
former in clumps at the water’s edge and with dimorphous fronds, 
the latter forming dense, almost impenetrable thickets back from 
the water; thus seen, one cannot doubt that they are distinct 
s : 
The Cubitas Mountains, a narrow limestone ridge of no great 
elevation, approximately parallel with the north coast and about 
25 miles inland, separates the wooded region above mentioned 
from the large dry savanna to the south. This ridge is very 
