36 A MONTANE RAIN-FOREST. 



Herberta, lichens, and blue-green algae form a considerable portion of 

 the epiphytic growth on the slender Umbs of the largest trees. On 

 the prostrate trunks and lower limbs are thick mats of mosses and 

 hepatics, or colonies of Hymenophyllaceae, in which often grow larger 

 ferns, orchids, and lycopods. 



The few moist depressions alluded to as occurring on the main ridge 

 are filled with Sphagnum lesucwii and Rynchospora polyphylla, but are 

 not without trees growing in their midst and have no species which are 

 peculiar to them. Sphagnum is common elsewhere in the Blue Moun- 

 tains, both on the ground and growing as an epiphyte, while on the 

 summit of Guava Ridge, in the Port Royal Mountains, is an open bog, 

 filled with sphagnum and having a close resemblance to North Tem- 

 perate peat bogs. 



The commonest trees of the Ridge Forest, together forming perhaps 

 one-fourth of the stand, are Podocarpus urbanii and Ckthra alexandri: 

 very abundant are : Vaccinium meridionale, Rapanea ferruginea, Wein- 

 mannia pinnata, Cyrilla racemiflora, Myrica m,icrocarpa, Ilex montana 

 var. occidentalis, and Eugenia alpina. Less frequent are : Cleyera the- 

 oides, Eugenia lateriflora, Clusia havetioides, and Rhamnus sphceros- 

 permus. The degree to which many of the above species are present 

 only as stunted individuals of 4 to 8 feet in height is indicated in plate 

 19 and plate 20. Ilex obcordata is a common shrub sometimes attaining 

 to the height of a tree and, with Eugenia alpina, exhibiting the smallest 

 leaves of any trees in the region (see plate 20 A) . A form of Palicourea 

 crocea is coramon, together with. Miconiarigida, Wallenia crassifolia, and 

 Lisianthus latif alius. The Compositse contribute several shrubs to the 

 ridge vegetation, notably Vernonia divaricata, which forms extensive 

 thickets in open stands of forast, particularly on the main ridge between 

 Sir John and Mossman's Peaks, Eupatorium dalea, Vernonia arbor- 

 escens, Senecio fadyenii, and Eupatorium critoniforme. One of the most 

 striking plants of the ridges is Lobelia mariagon, which has a woody 

 stem branched once, growing to a height of 7 feet and bearing tufts of 

 leaves at the ends of its branches, with its spikes of dark-red flowers. 

 The exposure of the ridges to high wind is probably accountable for 

 the absence of tree-ferns, as just below the most exposed of the ridges, 

 in forest of similar character, may be found Cyathea furfuracea and 

 Cyathea insignis. 



The thickets of ferns are made up chiefly of Gleichenia jamaicensis, 

 Gleichenia bancrofiii, and Odontosorea aculeata, but are frequently also 

 formed by Pteridium aquilinum, Histiopteris incisa, Pteris deflexa, and 

 Hypolepis nigrescens. Within the denser forest the open floor is most 

 conspicuously covered with Rynchospora polyphylla and Blechnum 

 capense, in addition to which Peperomia basellcefolia, Pteris longifolia, 

 and Plagiogyria biserrata occur, together with downfallen epiphytes and 

 the seedlings and suckers of the trees. 



