Andean Flora of Ecuador

Ecuador, bisected from north to south by the mighty Andes and from east to west by the equator (after which the country is named), offers wonderful botanising amidst magnificent scenery. Once part of the Inca Empire that stretched from Chile to Colombia, and later a Spanish colony until it gained independence in the 19th century, Ecuador possesses an extraordinary range of environments, and harbours the highest biodiversity for an area of its size in South America. In fact, its orchid list is the longest of any country in the world, regardless of size, with over 4,000 species!

On this holiday we will visit many of the main montane habitats along the central spine of the country. We will tiptoe around fragile alpine cushion plants near the snow-line, search for orchids and tree-sized flowering mistletoes in cold, moss-covered temperate forests, marvel at the lushness of the rich subtropical forests on the lower slopes of the mountains, and reach the edge of Amazonia with a visit to the extremely diverse transition zone between rainforest and cloudforest. The diversity of plants (not to mention the birds!), welcoming people, short travel distances and good accommodation make a natural history holiday here a delight.

We begin our journey by driving south along the ‘Avenue of the Volcanoes’, the arid central plateau of the country. If the weather is clear we will have fantastic views of the highest active volcano in the world, Cotopaxi. Further on, from Baños, in east-central Ecuador, we will have views of another active volcano, Tungurahua, and perhaps witness one of its frequent small eruptions. Past volcanic activity has sculpted a tortuous landscape here, with geologically recent lava flows covered with desert-like vegetation. The most conspicuous element of this semi-arid flora is the Puya, an imposing terrestrial bromeliad. Two rare amaryllis relatives (Phaedranassa schizantha var. ignea and P. viridiflora) can also be found here and lava flows host many orchids, mostly with inconspicuous flowers. If we are lucky, we may even find a flowering plant of the strange ‘slipperless’ lady’s slipper orchid, Phragmipedium lindenii, with its stringy petals up to a foot long.

The hills to the east of Baños are covered by extremely wet cloudforest (from where over 40 new orchid species have recently been described!). We will spend the next two days exploring this area from a lovely hotel above Baños called Hacienda Leito. The forests here are heavily clad with orchids and bromeliads, and the scenery is spectacular, with waterfalls on all sides. The slopes are covered with big purple Sobralia orchid flowers and forests full of endemic species, many still awaiting discovery.

We next drive south to Cuenca, the third largest city in Ecuador and noted for its architecture, contribution to Ecuadorian arts, sciences and literature, and for being the birthplace for many illustrious figures of Ecuadorian society. Cuenca was founded on 12th April 1557 on the ruins of the Inca city of Tomebamba. In 1999 its historic centre was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Driving on further south to Loja, at an elevation of 2,100 metres, we will have time to enjoy this beautiful city which is an ideal base from which to explore high-elevation cloudforests in the Podocarpus National Park. Stunning alpine grasslands are evident here, rich in ericads, bromeliads and orchids, and the environment is very picturesque; we can be absolutely sure that we will be the only botanists on the mountainside!

There is also an extraordinary cold, windy and wet páramo near Loja, called Cerro Toledo. We will visit this botanically unique environment, rich in endemic species, although the climate is often so severe that we may not stay at the top for long!

Next we head back to Quito and east, along a route first used in the 16th century when Francisco de Orellana led his expedition from Quito down into Amazonia. Papallacta, a small village perched up on the tree-line, is famous in Ecuador for its hot thermal springs and it really is an Andean paradise. The road affords splendid views of several snowcapped peaks as it winds its way over the 4,000-metre Papallacta Pass and, with good luck, we may find an Andean Condor soaring over the crags. Here we will examine curious clumps of moss-like dwarf gentians and other plants with strange growth forms, highly adapted for life in this extreme environment. We will also visit the enchanting Polylepis forests with their twisted branches and papery red bark, growing at the upper altitudinal limit for woody plants. Lower down we will be based at the delightful San Isidro Lodge where we will explore moss-covered cloudforests full of yellow Odontoglossum orchids and other colourful flowers — a fitting finale to the tour.