158 



Notes of a Visit to Popayan, 



flowers, Loranthus catacarpus, Cerasus opaca, Quercus Hum- 

 boldtiana, forming a large forest tree, and occupying a range from 

 7,000 to 8,000 feet, Gaultheria anastomosans, Siphocampylus cor- 

 difolius, lanatus, and Columnce, Befaria phillyrecefolia, an evergreen 

 shrub of striking beauty, producing rose-coloured flowers in abun- 

 dance at the points of the shoots; in the more elevated parts, 

 Fuchsia canescens, and corollata, Macleania pubiflora, Thibaudia 

 hirtiflora,aY\dparvifolia, Ribes leptostachyum,Linochilus floribundus, 

 Ceratostemma rigidum, Vaccinium densiflorum, and acuminatum, Es- 

 peletia grandiflora, Lobelia rupestris, and andina, Myrtus oxycoc- 

 coides, Valeriana bracteata and Apium glaucescens. The Cin- 

 chona woods of Pitayo, which are famous on account of the bark 

 they produce, lie about forty miles N.E. of Popayan in the Central 

 Cordillera, at an elevation of 8,000 feet ; the species which abounds 

 there is Cinchona lanceolata, called " Red bark" a tree between 

 40 and 50 feet in height, the bark of this, is however, considered 

 inferior to the " Orange bark" the produce of Lisyanthus densi- 

 Jlorus which is a shrub with large shining leaves and yellow flowers, 

 belonging to the natural order Gentianacece. Here I collected 

 Mikania rufa, Coffea marginata, the large scarlet flowering Muti- 

 sia grandiflora, Begonia trachyptera, Spigelia pedunculata, the 

 leaves of which prove fatal to dogs, Viscum clavatum, and squami- 

 gerum, Clethra bicolor, Gaultheria cordifolia, Thibaudia pubescens, 

 and pendula, Vaccinium epacridifolium, and several minute Orchi- 

 dacece. 



The western Cordillera seldom attains more than 9,000 feet of 

 an elevation and terminates abruptly towards the coast, present- 

 ing a boundless uninhabited forest. The principal objects derived 

 from this expedition were four species of Palms, among which was 

 the " Chontadura" having a slender prickly stem between 40 and 60 

 feet in height, with a raceme of flowers eighteen inches in length, 

 and producing from 150 to 200 yellow nuts about the size of a 

 large green walnut. The thick rind surrounding the seed of these, 



