22 FOEEST CONDITIONS OF PORTO RICO. 



to one who first sees tlie country: hence, it is that some of these moun- 

 tainous portions of the island which have the aspect of thick primeval 

 forests, when first viewed from a distance by the traveler from the tem- 

 perate climes, are really the most highly cultivated. 



Such wooded lands are often occupied by the coffee plantations. 

 The coffee bush, which attains no great height, is always accompanied 

 by an overgrowth of dense shade (the first essential to the life of the 

 coffee bush), so that the latter has the appearance of an underbrush in 

 the midst of high forest trees. The writer has often found it difficult 

 to convince a fellow-traveler that he was in a coffee plantation and 

 not a jungle, until a tree could be found full of the bright red berries 

 which distinguish the coffee plant. In fact, a Porto Eican coffee planta- 

 tion, with its accompanying shade trees, is an artificial forest. 



In preparing a coffee plantation, the native forest is either thinned of 

 all except the highest trees or completely cleared of all growth and 

 new trees planted for the express purpose of affording shade. In the 

 latter case the shade trees are planted at the same time as coffee, and 

 hence are an integral part of the general culture. The trees thus 

 used are the guava, 1 guama, bucare, and maga. These are trees 

 which grow so rapidly that, by the time the coffee bush reaches matur- 

 ity at the end of seven years, they are very tall forest trees, giving 

 a dense shade above the bush. 



The mountain trees are of many genera. They are largely hard- 

 woods, occurring singly or in varied association, and not as collections 

 of a single species, such as the pine forests of the United States. Among 

 the trees of the mountains may be mentioned the following: 2 Papaya. 

 guayacan, bucare, tabanuco, canafistolo. mafia, guama. guava. piini- 

 enta, nutmeg, sabino (talaumo), hirtella, guava, lobelia sp., heliconia sp., 

 ausubo, guaraguao, maga, laurel, capa, cedro, cojoba, roble, ceiba, and 

 several palms. 



THE FOREST OF EL YUNQUE. 



Single specimens or small groups of the above trees, which have been 

 spared the woodman's ax (see fig. 7), may be found throughout the 

 upland portion of the island. In one place, however, the original forest 

 has been preserved. This forest is upon the summit of El Yunque, the 

 highest peak of the island, situated near the northeast end, and has 

 been protected by its inaccessibility. Although the mountain is hardly 

 over 3,200 feet in altitude, it is constantly bathed in moisture, and 

 the steep trails to its summit through red clay and mud are almost 



1 Inga vera. The guava tree of Porto Rico is not to be confused with the gnayava 

 bush. The former is a tall tree; the latter is the bush which is called guava in 

 English. 



In Porto Rico native names are given to most of the trees; these names are largely 

 used throughout the report. The botanical names of these trees are given on the 

 last page of this bulletin. 



