150 



Notes of a Visit to Guayaquil, 



species of Befaria, also Macleanias having large fleshy roots, 

 Vacciniums, Fuchsia loxensis, Barnadesia spinosa, Berberis 

 glauca, Alstromerias, Hypericum laricifolium, yielding a yellow 

 dye, a Viburnum and Lupinus semperflorens, the latter forming a 

 shrub 12 feet in height, and flowering profusely throughout the 

 year. 



Orchidacece also, are to be met with at this elevation, but they 

 are more abundant in the woods a few hundred feet lower ; the 

 damp atmosphere which prevails about Loxa, is favourable to the 

 growth of that class of plants, but renders them unfit to undergo 

 a long journey ; of seventy species which I collected here, very 

 few succeeded after their arrival in England. The thermometer 

 at Loxa, stands generally between 60° and 65°; the rainy season 

 sets in in December and lasts until May, when it is followed by 

 the " paramos," light but continued rains unaccompanied by thun- 

 der. These paramos are peculiar to the more elevated parts of 

 the Andes, where that term is also applied to the grass lands 

 (pajonal) above the regions of trees ; they seldom pass their pre- 

 scribed limits by descending into the warm vallies or down to the 

 coast; an instance of which I observed on my arival at Loxa from 

 El Catamayo, for in a distance of five leagues, in the former place 

 it had been raining for several days, whilst in the latter every 

 thing was burnt up by the continued drought. About Loxa, the 

 lower region of the mountains, to which I made frequent visits, 

 furnished me with Tropceolum peltophorum, Lupinus arvensis, 

 Berberis loxensis, an Oreocallis, several species of Rubus, Hy- 

 pericum, Monnina, and Alstromeria, whilst the more elevated 

 parts were rich in Composite? and Ericacece. A small tree called 

 Ducu (Clusia Ducu Benth.)is also found in this region, exuding 

 a yellowish transparent resin from the stem, which is used as 

 incense. 



The Wax palm (Ceroxylon andicola) occurs at an elevation 

 of nearly 8,000 feet; the stem, which attains 60 feet in height 



