3 
\ 
Those clear spots possess moreover an additional charm in their vegetation. Here, where the dense 
forest is interrupted by an unevenness of the soil, or by some rill of water, the plants, which form the 
underwood, appear in a particularly beautiful development, while, in the thicket of the forest, they grow in 
an exuberant and chaotic manner, appearing often but as an irregular confusion of boughs, leaves and blossoms 
of various hues and formations. 
Solanums'*' grow here, and the Heliconia villosa^, bearing a beautiful red blossom; young Wax-palms 
(Ceroxylon Andicola)^ and Palmettoes (Oreodoxa frigida)+ break vigorously forth through the underwood. 
Between them, trunks of Myroxylon"'' (Leguminosee)’ and Urostigma+ (Artocarpem) are rising, richly 
overgrown with Passiflorse (P. manicata, P. difformis, P. longipes),^ with Aroideae and Bromeliaceae''', and 
overshading graceful Fern-trees’’'. Here, too, are found Piper rude, Peperomia foliosa, Peperomia mollis 
(Piperacege),® Galium piliferum (Rubiaceaey Soliva pygmaea (Compositge),® Lobelia Surinamensis (Lobeliaceae),'^ 
and Salvia tortuosa (Labiatae) then Croton costatus (Euphorbiaceae),® Witheringia rhomboidea and Witheringia 
riparia (Solaneae),'’ Besleria sanguinea, B. elegans, B. calcarata (Gesneriaceae),'" Citrosma echinatum (Monimieae)," 
and the Cyperaceae : Cyperus melanostachys, Mariscus flavus, Scirpus montanus.’^ Then Pothos myosuroides 
(Aroideae),'^ Bomaria floribunda (Amaryllideae),'^ Desfontainia splendens (Solaneae). 
Ad fol. 4. 
Forest on the ridge between Buena vista and the Quehrada del Toche, about 7000 {Par.) feet abs. height. 
The passage through the Quindiu mountains is almost continually up and down hill. Only on the top 
of the ridge, which rises above the Quebrada del Toche, the path, for a short distance, is tolerably even. Here 
we meet with a very beautiful forest of lofty trees, and in the flat hollows, which partly get filled with water 
in the rainy season, Palmettoes and tree-ferns grow in a wonderful exuberance and vigour. The fronds of 
the young Oreodoxa frigida^ here often attain such astounding dimensions, that, on comparing them with 
older specimens, one is scarcely able to identify them. 
The Clusia volubilis is here frequently seen ramping in the trees, whose trunks, as well as the stems of 
Palmettoes and Fern-trees, are covered with Bromeliaceae and other epiphytical plants, wherever there is a spot 
left bare by the creepers. The underwood consists of Psychotria hirta (Rubiaceae)’® and Citrosma petiolare 
(Monimieae),’® intermixed with Solaneae^ and Aroidem’^, which latter climb the very tops of trees. 
Among the herbs we find Eryngium Humboldtianum (Umbelliferae),*^ Ranunculus geranioides (Ranun- 
culaceaeV* Hypericum stellarioides (Hypericineae), Oxalis lotoides (Oxalidese) ; a highly graceful grass, Olyra 
arundinacea, and Scirpus trichoides. 
Ad fol. 5. 
Declivity near the Alto de las Sepulturas, about 8000 {Par.) feet high. 
In the cooler regions, at heights of 8000 to 9000 feet, the vegetation begins to thin. The growth of 
the trees and the underwood still continues vigorous ; the creeping plants, however, appear no longer in 
the same abundance as rather lower down. Powerful trunks of Ceroxylon^ rise above the dark-leaved 
Oak-forest (Quercus Tolimensis’’'y® Podocarpus taxifolia and densifolia^“ (a yewtree-like conifera) grow beside 
the Oreodoxa frigida% and the Gunnera pilosa (Urticeae)^' projects its large, sharp, dark green leaves 
between Salvia sagittata (Labiatae), Petitia Quinduensis (Verbenaceae),^^ Loasa papaverifolia (Loaseae),^^ Luzula 
gigantea (Junceae),^^ Scirpus exiguus (Cyperaceae),^^ Melastoma rubiginosum (Melastomaceae)/'* Aralia jatrophae- 
folia (Araliaceae),” Fuchsia Quinduensis (Onagreae).^® 
Ad fol. 6. 
Palmforest near El Gallego., above 8500 {Par.) feet high. 
At a height of nearly 9000 feet a kind of shed for travellers has been raised on a jut of the mountain. It is 
1 Kunth, Synops. pi. vol. iv. p. 394. ® Ibid. p. 362. ^ Ibid. p. 348. * Ibid. p. 379. ® Ibid. p. 378. Ibid. p. 375. ^ Ibid, 
p. 366. ® Ibid. p. 360. ® Ibid. p. 369. “ Ibid. p. 368. Ibid. p. 364. Ibid. p. 350. Ibid. p. 349. Ibid. p. 354. 
Ibid. p. 379. Ibid. p. 364. ” Ibid. p. 382. Ibid. p. 382. Ibid. p. 358. Ibid. p. 358. Ibid. p. 359. Ibid, 
p. 366. Ibid. p. 390. Ibid. p. 353. ibid, p. 350. Ibid. p. 391. Ibid. p. 381. Ibid. p. 390. 
