Vol. 6 No. 5 



TORREYA 



May, 1906 LIBRARY 



NEW YORK 



A COLLECTING TRIP AT CINCHONA botanical 



By Forrest Shreve 



The Tropical Station of the New York Botanical Garden at 

 Cinchona, Jamaica, is located in a region which is not strictly- 

 tropical, owing to its being at an altitude of 5,000 feet. Far 

 from being a fact to be deplored, this circumstance redounds, in 

 at least two ways, to the advantage of the visiting botanist. 

 After spending six months here I can say that I have not been 

 ill a single day, nor have I experienced the feeling of lassitude 

 proverbial to the tropics. The other advantage is that from here 

 there is readily accessible a great number of regions which are 

 strikingly diverse in flora, owing to differences in altitude, rainfall 

 and topography. 



A spot which I visited recently proved to be of more than 

 common interest, and I feel impelled to give an account of it in 

 order that those who come here in the future may not miss going 

 there. Leaving Cinchona and crossing the main ridge of the 

 Blue Mountains at Morce's Gap, a ride of some three hours in a 

 northerly direction brings one to Vinegar Hill, a locality^ at an 

 elevation of about 3,900 feet, from which a commanding view 

 may be had of the coast and sea to the north, and of the billowy 

 expanse of hills to the east and west. To the southwest of Vin- 

 egar Hill stands John Crow Peak (6,000 feet), the most westerly 

 elevation of the Blue Mountain Range. Between it and Vinegar 

 Hill lies a large valley drained by the Mabess River, better known 

 as the west branch of the Spanish River, which debouches near 

 Orange Bay. Throughout the upper portion of this valley there 

 is an unbroken stretch of virgin forest. In such a region one 

 might search in vain for any of those introduced plants which 



[No. 4, Vol. 6, of ToRREVA, comprising pages 57-80, was issued .April 25, 19C6J 



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