1955] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN ECUADOR 



137 



border (western escarpment): Near El Tambo, 10,000-11,500 ft, E-4083. "Paja 

 hembra" — a name usually applied to any of the smaller grasses. 



Agrostis humboldtiana Steud. Norn. Bot. ed. 2. 1: 40. 1840. 



AZUAY: Paramo de Tinajillas and surrounding chaparral and forests, 30-50 

 km south of Cuenca, 10,900 ft, E-475. Along the Rio Cumbe (25-30 km. south of 

 Cuenca), 9300-10,000 ft, E-2207. CANAR: Uplands called "Huairacaja," 10-20 

 km northeast of Azogues, 11,000 ft, E-1775. 



Polypogon interruptus H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 134. pi. 44. 1816. 



CHIMBORAZO: Canon of the Rio Chanchan near Huigra, 4000-4500 ft (mostly 

 scrub-chaparral, with a few seepages and small swamps along the river), E~3164, 



Sporobolus poiretii (Roem. & Schult.) Hitchc. Bartonia 14: 32. 1932. 



CHIMBORAZO: Canon of the Rio Chanchan near Huigra, 4000-4500 ft (mostly 

 scrub-chaparral, with a few seepages and small swamps along the river), E-3098. 



Pereilema crinitum Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 233. pi 37, /. a. 1830. 



CHIMBORAZO: Canon of the Rio Chanchan near Huigra, 4000-4500 ft (mostly 

 scrub-chaparral, with a few seepages and small swamps along the river), E-3073, 

 E-3216. 



Muhlenbergia angustata (Presl) Kunth, Rev. Gram. 1: Suppl. XVI. 1830. 



CANAR: Near the village of San Marcos (5-8 km northeast of Azogues), Par- 

 roquia Luis Cordero, "paja." Used primarily as thatching for mountain homes. 

 E-2519 (collected by Prieto). 



Muhlenbergia ciliata (H.B.K.) Kunth, Rev. Gram. 1: 63. 1829. 



CHIMBORAZO: Canon of the Rio Chanchan near Huigra, 4000-4500 ft (mostly 

 scrub-chaparral, with a few seepages and small swamps along the river), E-2952. 



Muhlenbergia microsperma (DC.) Kunth, Rev. Gram. 1: 64. 1829. 



CHIMBORAZO: Canon of the Rio Chanchan near Huigra, 4000-4500 ft. (mostly 

 scrub-chaparral, with a few seepages and small swamps along the river), E-3052, 



Stipa brachyphylla Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 24: 275. 1925. 



AZUAY: Along the Rio Cumbe (25-30 km south of Cuenca), 9300-10,000 ft, 

 E-2208 (NY only). 



Stipa ichu (Ruiz & Pav.) Kunth, Rev. Gram. 1: 60. 1829. 



AZUAY: Along the Rio Cumbe (25-30 km south of Cuenca), 9300-10,000 ft, 

 E-2213A, E-2213B. This is the grass which is used so much as thatching for the 

 mountain houses. It is also brought into the Cuenca market in great abundance, 

 where it is sold to be mixed with adobe for walls and sun-dried bricks used in 

 house and wall construction. The common name is "Paja de Cerro." Giler notes 

 that when a woman is in the fields or on a journey and has difficulty in giving 

 birth (the expression he used was "Cuando no pueden dar a luz"), she boils 

 some of this grass and drinks the hot "tea," thus expediting parturition. Camp 

 E-2213B shows the manner of harvesting this grass. It is not pulled out by the 

 roots, but cut near the ground, permitting the same clumps to be harvested in- 

 definitely. AZUAY: Along the Rio Tarqui, 4-18 km south of Cuenca, 8300-9000 

 ft (near Banos), E-1856. 



Stipa mucronata H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 125. 1816. 



CHIMBORAZO: Canon of the Rio Chanchan, about 5 km north of Huigra, 5000- 

 6500 ft (moist forested valleys in the afternoon fogbelt), E-3324; near Huigra, 

 4000-4500 ft, E-32 69. 



