14 



MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN [ Pol. 8, No. 1 



almost constant fog and we were now getting into the worst of the rainy season 

 for that part of Ecuador,, Trails onto and crossing the paramos of the eastern Cor- 

 dillera are relatively scarce. We therefore decided to try and find a place some- 

 where near the little village of Sevilla de Oro to set up temporary headquarters 

 for our work in that region 



A place was found in the mud-walled house of Senora Ni eves-Cordova, es- 

 poused to one Jesus Villavicencio. The house was located approximately 3 kilo- 

 meters north of Sevilla de Oro at an elevation of about 8,000 ft. It was the highest 

 habitation in this fog-drenched region and admirably suited to our purpose, for 

 preliminary work on a projected road to Mendez had opened a means of access 

 from Sevilla de Oro along the shoulder of the valley of the Rio Col lay toward the 

 Rio Paute, above the cultivated and pastured zones. From this, we could pene- 

 trate the last of the high forest and soon reach the sotobosque zone; on occasion, 

 we found obscure trails which led to the paramo, there somewhat above 11,000 ft. 

 Both the old and new trails from Sevilla de Oro across the Paramo del Castillo 

 also were available for trips to the higher elevations. 



Active collecting was begun in this area on July 27 and continued through 

 September 4„ As I have said, it was the height of the rainy season, and there were 

 days on end when we never saw the sun; rarely did we return at night without 

 having been drenched at least once. In general, however, the rains did not come 

 early in the morning; usually we already were so far along the trail that there was 

 little use in turning back, and so collecting continued for the day. 



I was frankly surprised at the number of plants in full flower during this seem- 

 ingly inauspicious season. The bulk of them were entomophilous and I almost 

 wondered whether the insects that pollinated them might be aquatic. It soon be- 

 came evident that many of the Andean insects of this region were a special type 

 that did not wait for sunny weather to go about their chores, but would emerge 

 from their hiding places as soon as the rain slacked, and worked apparently with 

 full vigor in heavy fog. On those brief periods when the sun did shine, the air was 

 alive with the hum of the more timid sorts as they seemingly attempted to make up 

 for lost time. 



Mention of flower pollinators leads inevitably to the hummingbirds „ The Andean 

 hummingbirds never ceased to amaze me. I had read of them, but one has to see 

 them to appreciate their great variety. In size they run anywhere from something 

 no bigger than the last joint of one's thumb to as large as blackbirds; they have 

 borrowed almost every color in the spectrum's range and magnified them with 

 brilliant hues. But it is not their size or color that astonishes, it is their probing 

 bills. Some turn down and some turn up, and some point straight ahead, some of 

 these with bills so long that, in flight, they seem like jet-powered bodkins. Each 

 has evolved a certain form of nectar- probing bill that enables it to work on a 

 special type of flower, and to which it is limited. One day I saw one flying along 

 which seemed incredible. Even for an Andean hummingbird it was fair-sized; 

 shortly after leaving the head the bill turned upward at almost a 90° angle. It flew 

 to a clump of Crimson Angel's Trumpets scarcely more than ten feet from where I 

 stood, hovered beneath an open flower, and then slowly raised itself on its rapidly 

 beating wings until the bill reached the nectar deposits of the flower. When I say 

 that the narrow corollas of. Datura sanguinea are about 10 inches long and that 

 the nectar is located at the base of the flower (the flowers hang down), one may 

 gain some idea of the astonishing, periscope-like nectar gathering apparatus of 

 this bird. 



And mention of this plant also leads to a brief note on the group. Datura san- 

 guinea is supposed to be a native of Peru. It is widely cultivated as a roadside 



