36 



trip to the crater of \"olcan Poas (8300 feet), bringing back Drimys 

 JJ'^inferi. famous because although it is a dicotyledon its wood shows 

 tracheids in place of vessels. Other prizes were certain rare ericads 

 and the immigrant conifer from South America, Podocarpus inon- 

 taiiHS. 



Our next trip aftorded a chance to sample the rich flora of a 

 region at an altitude of 2,200 feet, San Isidro del General. This vil- 

 lage in the midst of a bean growing region has the distinction of 

 having skipped some of the usual evolutionary stages of a com- 

 munity, such as horse and carriage, automobile, railroad, telegraph 

 and telephone, for it has leaped from the ox-cart stage to airplane 

 and radio. Half an hour by plane covered the journey from San 

 Jose, although bv mule-back over the ridges live days used to be 

 consumed. We were particularly impressed at San Isidro by the 

 variety of tree ferns and the pendent species of Lycopodiiiin. Al- 

 though the roadsides showed some highly colored flowers, the only 

 conspicuous angiosperms in the rain forest were the orchid-like 

 OrcJiiUiuni E)idrcsii — a large-flowered member of the bladderwort 

 family — and CcpJiacIis spp. (Rubiaceae) distinguished by two deep 

 red bracts enclosing each inflorescence. But the Selaginellas of 

 stream-banks, a splendid Lindsaya (lancea) a climbing Bleclinum, 

 impressive Dennstaedtias made up for paucity of color. 



Another area along the 2,000-foot contour was visited — the val- 

 ley of the Reventazon River near Turrialba village. The calcareous 

 banks of the river support a varied flora, again consisting chiefly of 

 ferns, but including Zainia Skinneri, a species interesting because of 

 its trunk-forming habit. We were hospitably entertained at a coitee 

 plantation by ]\Irs. Goode, the patron saint of botanists in that re- 

 gion, where every hedge-row presents novel plants, and a bewilder- 

 ing assortment of Dryopteris challenges one's observing capacity. 



The vicinity of Cartago has been made familiar to biologists by 

 Professor and ]\Irs. Calvert^ through the notable volume describing 

 a year's work, chiefly on insects but containing many references to 

 plants. Although the region is much changed during the last thirty 

 years, we still found the slopes of ]\It. Carpintera well worth explor- 

 ing, while the thickets and walls could be depended on to furnish 



" Calvert, P. P. and A. C. A year of Costa Rican natural history. Xew 

 York. 1917. 



