»5 



trees and kept the men willi llie machetes busy. My big 

 basket soon was overflowuig and particularly fine clumps of 

 ferns and lycoi)odiums were left to be picked up on the way 

 down. So many stops were made and such interesting specimens 

 found, that we were neither tired nor out oi breath when we 

 reached the wonderful rain-forest of the flat ridge below the 

 summit of El Yunque. Of all tropical mountains that we have 

 ever climbed, this has the densest vegetation and is most un- 

 spoiled by the ravages of man. The trees were so covered with 

 mosses and hepatics, that the trunks were invisible, and ferns 

 and orchids grew upon them in masses. The rare fern Hymencd- 

 ium cnnit'um was exceedingly abundant and of large size. Olfer- 

 sia cernua, Trichomanes crispum and IIymenophyllu7n polyanthcs 

 were also abundant, — Elapho gloss urns and Gesnerias hung from 

 the trees, and a beautiful white epiphytic orchid Octadesmia 

 montana grew on the bushes along the path. Dense cushions 

 of a rare moss — only found on high mountains — Hemiragis 

 aurea were everywhere and mixed with it were pillows of Macro- 

 mitriiims. The Hookeriaceae also were abundant, and Hook- 

 eriopsis acicularis covered the stones in the path. Another 

 beautiful moss of this family found hanging at the end of twigs — 

 Isodrepanium lentulum with its symmetric branching and 

 glossy leaves made it particularly lovely and tempting. Mixed 

 with it were our old friends of the Blue Mountains of Jamaica — 

 Meteoropsis remotifolia, Pilotrichella flexilis , Phyllogonium fulgeti s , 

 and Thuidium acuminatum. Also quite familiar and abundant 

 were Porotrichum insularum and Clastohryum irichophyllus. 



On the last muddy scramble a few plants of Hookeria acutifolia 

 were found. In the crevices of the rocks on the bare summit 

 were dense black masses of Thysanomitrium Richardi and in 

 these wet cushions grew a tiny pale Utricularia, now called Setis- 

 capella pusilla. Two rare ferns also grew in the crevices of the 

 rock in wet cushions of mosses — Psilogramme Portoricensis and 

 Pleurogramme minor but were not abundant. 



As we sat down to lunch, it began to rain and drove us away 

 from the exposed and windy ledges to the shelter of the forest — 

 but even here there was little comfort, and we turned home- 

 ward — realizing that our baskets and packs were full and ab- 

 sorbing water all the time. So it was a wet and tired party that 

 dragged into camp a few hours later, soaked through and through. 



