If we ascend the Andes, between 20° south latitude and 5° north, at a height of from 5,000 to 10,000 feet above the sea level, we shall find extra-tropical forms of vegetation become more abundant: _Graminaceæ_; some _Amentaceæ_--such as the oaks, willows; _Labiatæ_; _Ericaceæ_; numerous _Compositæ_; _Caprifoliaceæ_; _Umbelliferæ_; _Rosaceæ_; _Cruciferæ_; and _Ranunculaceæ_. Tropical plants, on the contrary, disappear, or become very rare; but still, isolated species of palms, pepper-plants, _Cactaceæ_, passion-flowers, and _Melastomaceæ_ are found at considerable heights. Among the most abundant ligneous species are the _Ceroxylon andicola_, the highest of all the palms, which reaches the height of 200 feet, and produces a wax which exudes from its leaves, and from the base of their petioles; willow and Humboldt’s oak; several species of _Cinchona_, which here reign supreme; a few hollies, and species of _Andromeda_. Vegetables cultivated between the tropics, in Mexico, and as far south as the river Amazon, disappear almost entirely here; but maize and coffee, the cereals and European fruits, are cultivated in these regions; potatoes; _Chenopodium Quinoa_, the seeds of which, when boiled, serve as food for the inhabitants of the mountains. If we ascend to the height of 10,000 feet above the sea on the Andes, and in the same latitude, tropical forms of vegetation almost entirely disappear. Those, on the contrary, which characterize temperate climates, and even the Polar regions, become abundant. Large trees are no longer seen. Alders, bilberries, currants; _Escallonia_, with bitter and tonic leaves, of which this is the home; hollies and _Drymis_, are bushes belonging to these regions, as well as the curious calceolarias, with shoe-shaped corolla, the seeds of which have supplied horticulture with an infinite number of varieties. Among the characteristic families we also find _Umbelliferæ_, _Caryophyllaceæ_, _Cruciferæ_, _Cyperaceæ_, mosses and lichens. Returning to more circumscribed botanical districts, the climate of Caracas has often been called one of perpetual spring. A more delicious temperature can not be conceived. During the day it ranges between 60° and 68° Fahr., and in the night between 60° and 64°, at once favorable to the growth of the banana, the orange, coffee, the apple, apricot, and wheat.