ingly in the valley, but chiefly on
the Pacific coast. Its home is Polynesia. Quito consumes about one
hundred and fifty barrels of flour daily. The best sells for four
dollars a quintal. The common fodder for cattle is alfalfa, an imported
lucerne. There is no clover except a wild, worthless, three-leaved
species (_Trifolium amabile_). Nearly all in the above list are
cultivated for home consumption only, and many valuable fruits and
vegetables which would grow well are unknown to Quitonians. As Bates
says of the Brazilians, the incorrigible nonchalance and laziness of the
people alone prevent them from surrounding themselves with all the
luxuries of a temperate as well as tropical country.

It would be an endless task to speak of the flowers. It must suffice to
state that a _Synopsis Plantarum AEquatoriensium_, the life-work of the
venerable Professor Jameson, of the University of Quito, has just been
published by the tardy government. Botanists will find in these two
small volumes many new species unknown to American science, and others
more correctly described by one who has dwelt forty years among the
Andes. The last zone of vegetation nearest the snow-line consists
chiefly of yellow-flowering _Compositae_. In fact, this family includes
one fourth of the plants in the immediate vicinity of Quito. The next
most numerous family is the _Labiatae_, and then follow _Leguminosae_ and
_Gentians_. Although the _Rosaceae_ is represented, there is not one
species of the genus _Rosa_ not even in the whole southern hemisphere.
The magnificent _Befaria_, found in the lower part of the valley, is
called "the Rose of the Andes." Fuchsias may be considered
characteristic of South America, since they are so numerous; only one or
two kinds occur in any other part of the world. Flowers are found in
Quito all the year round, but the most favorable months are December and
May. Yellow is the predominating color. The higher the altitude, the
brighter the hues of any given species. Thus the _Gentiana sedifolia_ is
a small, light blue flower in the lowlands, but on the Assuay it has
bright blue petals three times as large and sensitive. This accords with
Herschel's statement: "The chemical rays of the spectrum are powerfully
absorbed in passing through the atmosphere, and the effect of their
greater abundance aloft is shown in the superior brilliancy of color in
the flowers of Alpine regions."

America is plainly the continent of vegetati