84 



night-fall. While toiling upward one has more time to examine 

 the vegetation of the valley slopes. A striking shrub is Cephailis 

 punicea, a Rubiaceous plant with large showy red bracts and 

 extremely thin leaves, which are so stiffened by an epidermis 

 which forms nearly half the thickness of the leaf that on being 

 struck with the finger they emit a metalHc sound like that from 

 a piece of tin. Other noticeable shrubs are Hoffmannia pedun- 

 ciilata, the trailing Schradera cephalotcs and Clidemia phunosa, 

 with large densely hairy leaves. The root-parasite Scybaliwn 

 jamaiccnse is fairly common along the trail, pushing its stout 

 club-shaped inflorescences above ground, its dark rich-red color 

 being in striking contrast to all the other tones of the surround- 

 ings. Careful search will discover scattered colonies of Burman- 

 nia, a saprophytic plant of the same pure white as Monotropa but 

 much more slender. The rare Aptcria, of similar habit, has also 

 been found here. Marattia alata, Lygodium vohibile, Gleichenia 

 fw-cata, Cyathea arborea as well as species of BotrycJiium, Da- 

 vallia, Danaea, TricJiomanes, HymeuopJiylhim, Elaplwglossiun and 

 Loinaria offer a wide range of examples of ferns of interest 

 because of their morphological importance. Among the trees 

 may be seen many species characteristic of higher altitudes, as 

 the coniferous Podocarpiis Urbanii, J \xcci)iuim meridionale, Alchor- 

 nca latifolia, Guar e a trichilioides and Laplace a Hacinatoxylon, a 

 member of the tea family with splendid white, rose-like flowers. 



As we near the end of the ascent our minds begin to wander 

 from the plant life to an estimation of the remaining distance, and 

 at length it is with pleasure that we reach the road and the waiting 

 ponies. There are a score of just such valleys as this between 

 Vinegar Hill and Cuna Cuna Pass, but they are very inaccessible 

 both from above and below. The strongly endemic character 

 of the Jamaican flora and the very limited distribution of many 

 species would indicate that the first botanist who has the privilege 

 of visiting these places will undoubtedly find awaiting him many 

 forms which are new to science. 



Cinchona, Jamaica. 



