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growing flat upon the surface of the rock. At one side of what 

 I have called a gorge appeared a sort of shady grotto, into which 

 I went, and where I received one of the surprises of my life. 

 Clambering down into the grotto I had collected sev^eral strange 

 ferns, one of them being Asplenium myriopkyllum Pr., and had 

 turned preparatory to climbing out, when there yawned before 

 me a great black shaft stretching downward to an unknown 

 depth. Fortunately my nerves were steady, and I managed to 

 emerge from the uncanny spot carrying my precious specimens 

 to a place of safety. There I found Dr. Roig industriously sort- 

 ing his specimens, and he informed me that the sierra is full of 

 caves and chasms. 



Although we seemed to be near the top of the mountain. Dr. 

 Roig assured me that we were not more than half way up, and 

 had come only 100-150 metres. Lest we should be caught by 

 darkness we reluctantly prepared to descend, and were succes- 

 ful in reaching level ground without mishap. 



A canvass of our collections showed the following species in 

 addition to those already mentioned: Asplenium abscissum 

 Willd., Cheilanihes microphylla Sw., Polypodium eqiguum Hew. 

 (growing on a tree-trunk), Peperomia commiilata Trelease, Pilea 

 microphylla Liebm., Rajania Wrightii Olive, Samyda grandiflora 

 Griseb., Chiococca racemosa L. and an unnamed species of Clusia. 



A few days later I was able to visit the Puerta del Ancon, a 

 pass in the sierra on the road from Vinales to Esperanza. This 

 gave an opportunity to observe the vegetation on the north face 

 of a ridge, and resulted in the collection of a great clump of a 

 fern with grass-like leaves {Campyloneuron angusiijolium Sw. 

 Fee), a Rhipsalis with white berries (R. cassytha L.) while on small 

 mogotes it was easy to collect Pitcairnia penduliflora Mez., 

 Pclypodium aureum L. and several epiphytic orchids. A threat- 

 ening thunder cloud cut short this trip, much to my regret. 



The most impressive feature of the flora of the mogotes is its 

 individuality. Concerning one after another of the plants Dr. 

 Roig informed me that the species occurs nowhere except on the 

 mogotes — the Thrinax, Anthunum, Agave, etc., found here are 

 different species from those found in other parts of western Cuba. 

 To ascribe these differences to the lime found in the pockets of 

 soil on the mogotes would be to open up an ancient controversy, 

 but it is difficult to persuade oneself that the chemical peculiar- 



