

CURRENT LITERATURE 



BOOK REVIEWS 



Vegetation of Paraguay 



Chodat 1 has issued the first of a series of bulletins upon the plants of 

 Paraguay. The work on which the series is based includes investigation con- 

 tinued at intervals since 1889 and culminating in an expedition made in 1914 

 by Chodat and his former pupil Vischer, and authorized by the Federal 

 Department of the Interior of Switzerland. Sketches, water colors, and 

 photographs were made in the field, as were also some chemical tests. A large 

 quantity of material was brought home for later study. 



The first chapter treats of the climatology and physiography of the country. 

 The discussion of climate is based upon records covering 30 years, made by 

 Bertoni at Asuncion on the Paraguay River and at Puerto-Bertoni on the 

 Alto-Parana. The eastern part of Paraguay has a subtropical climate of the 

 Chinese type; the western part is more like the Mediterranean region. Topo- 

 graphically, the state may be divided into the depressions along the Paraguay 

 River and the mountains of the east. A lower highland of about 300 m. ele- 

 vation separates the 2 main depressions, that about Lake Ypacarai and the 

 lowland around the Ypoa lagoon. This cordillera extends nearly east and 

 west between the Rio Salado and Rio Manduvira, and these 2 depressions are 

 the regions under discussion in this paper. 



Chodat then takes up the Solanaceae, a group of intermediate importance, 

 which compose several distinct formations, and gives somewhat in detail the 

 variations in adaptation for climbing found in the liana forms, and the ana- 

 tomical changes which occur during curvature. Only a few species are insect 

 pollinated, those having large tubular flowers being visited by lepidopterous 

 insects and humming birds. The genera Sessea and Grabowskia are here 

 reported for the first time for the Paraguay flora. Indigo w r as found present 

 in 2 species not previously known to contain the pigment. A few species of the 

 family find in Paraguay their southern limit, while a somewhat larger number 

 reach here their most northern extension. Several are mentioned as 

 endemic and some of these are extremely local. In the third chapter the 

 author discusses the Hydnoraceae, largely from a morphological standpoint. 

 The one genus given (Prosopanche) is reported as parasitic on the roots of 

 Prosopis and some of the Solanaceae. 







1 Chodat, R., and Vischer, W., La vegetation du Paraguay. 1st fascicle. 

 8vo. pp. 157. ph. 3. figs. 123. Geneve. 1916. 



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