676 Part IV. Chapter 7. 
an open pine forest that is sharply marked off according to F. $. EARLE*!) from the surrounding 
forest areas. 
The pineland on the Isle of Pines, according to ROWLEE2), resembles that of the Gulf coast 
of the United States. The pine-timber predominates over considerable areas and consists of 
Pinus caribaea (= cubensis) (see plate VI at page 306), Pinus recurvata, and P., caribaea 
var. anomala. The pines are best developed on the higher ground and with them are commingled 
palms, especially on the lower lands. 
Tropic Forest Formation. The great forest area of Cuba occupies the 
interior of the eastern end and stretches unbroken a distance of 60 or 70 miles. 
This forest contains scattered trees of Swierenia mahagoni, Cedrela odorata and 
other trees together with vines and bushes which form an impenetrable tangle. 
The fungi of this forest include an abundance of Polyporaceae and Thele- 
phoraceae; Hydnaceae are rare; the ground-inhabiting Agaricaceae are almost 
entirely wanting, while the kinds growing on rotten wood are fairly abundant. 
The Sierra Maestra watered by the Guama River were almost completely covered by Oxandra 
(Bocagea) virgata and a species of ge There also grow the Spanish cedar (Cedrela 
odorata), mahogany (Swietenia”Mahagoni) and the ever-present Cecropia peltata and Spondias 
lutea. A balanophoraceous parasite lie jamaicense grows on the roots of Cassia emar- 
ginata at an altitude of 2,100 feet, according to NORMAN TAYLOR?S). 
In the Isle of Pines, the trees of this forest are species of Clusia, Ficus 
and Cecropia, while bromeliads, orchids and aroids grow upon the trees and 
shrubs. On the rocks among the trees are species of Plumeria, Billbergia, 
Furcraea, and cacti in great profusion; palms are abundant particularly on 
the Derpendicalär faces of the mountains. 
On the south shore of Cuba, near Cienfuegos, this type of forest only 
exists where the rain is sufficient to foster a rich and luxuriant tropic growth. 
Such a rainfall only occurs on those mountain slopes which face in the di- 
rection from which. the rain clouds come, that is toward the prevailing moisture 
containing wind. The vegetation on the north slopes of the Sierra Maestra 
is watered by abundant rains and consequently the member of species is SO 
great that one is bewildered by the richness of the flora. Filmy ferns, tree- 
ferns, epiphytic orchids, bromeliads, hepatics and mosses together with many 
species of the genus Peperomia seem to predominate. The lee or protected 
slopes of such mountains are generally arid and are covered with a xerophytic 
Siem 
atmosphere here is nearly saturated with moisture, an ideal environment for plants of all 
kinds. unse every tree is covered with epiphytes, mostly ferns, orchids and Peperomias, while 
on the ground grow grasses. Such as Oplismenus and Arthrostylidium, the latter often Sa 
up into the trees. Of the orchids a little Pleurothallis was the most common. The 
Stelis is also represented together with melastomaceous shrubs and trees confined solely to he 
wet mountain slopes. The following trees, according to FERNOW4#), grow in these wet woods: 
1) EARLE, F. S.: Bi to eastern Cuba: see Bibliogr. p. 88. 
2) ROwLEE: Loc. cit. p. 36: Notes on the Antillean Pines with Description of a new Species 
from = Isle of Pines. ae Torrey Bot. Club XXX: ı 
3) Journal New York Botanical Garden VII: 259; Horestny Sul IV: 270—273- 
x The High Sierra Maestra, Forestry Quarterly IV: 239— 
