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Notes of a Visit to Mexico, 



Having returned to Oaxaca and despatched my collections to 

 Vera Cruz, I resolved to undertake a journey to the south coast. 

 The road leads along cochineal plantations, through the valley of 

 Oaxaca, for nearly ten leagues, and then enters the mountains near 

 San Andres, without offering much more than a few Mimosas and 

 Algarobia dulcis. Near the Rancho del Aye, the river of Oaxaca, 

 is bordered by fine specimens of Taxodium distichum, some of which 

 measure between 4 and 5 feet in diameter. Ascending the moun- 

 tain, I observed a tall Cereus, a Cyrtopodium, and a few Epiphytes. 

 About two leagues further on, the mountains are well covered with 

 a variety of Oaks and Pines, and from thence to the sugar plan- 

 tation of Santa Ana, the same barrenness prevails as had been obser- 

 ved the day before. Near San Miguel Sola, I found Cypripedium 

 molle in full flower, growing in the shade of Oaks. The valley of 

 Santa Ana is barren and destitute of trees ; sugar cane however is 

 cultivated ; but from the dryness of the soil and atmosphere, it does 

 not succeed without artificial irrigation. Towards the Monte de 

 la Virgin the vegetation improves ; it was in this wood that I first 

 found the Hand-tree, Cheirostemon platanoides, which here forms 

 a tree GO feet in height ; it was at the time in which I first saw 

 it covered with half ripe seed pods. A tree of this kind stands in 

 the Botanic Garden of the city of Mexico, and another grows near 

 Toluca, both of which have attained some celebrity, as no traveller 

 who has seen them has ever failed to extol their rarity, they being 

 considered to be the only two trees of the kind in existence until 

 this station was found out. 



Between Juquila, where I found Catasetum laminatum and other 

 Orchidacece, and the villages of Panistlahuaca and Tepanistlahuaca, 

 where I met with Dwscorea macrostachya, the savannahs offering 

 but little during the dry season, I found a high ridge and arrived 

 at San Juan Quiage, where I discovered some very interesting 

 plants. Towards Tecojomulco, Pine woods intermixed with Oaks, 

 continue to the descent to San Andres in the valley of Oaxaca. 



