Of herbaceous plants species of Ranunculus, Potentilla, Geranium, Thalictrum, Primula, Gentiana and many other European forms are common.
The herbaceous vegetation does not differ greatly, generically, from that of the east, and many species of Primulaceae, Ranunculaceae, Cruciferae, Labiatae and Scrophulariaceae occur; balsams abound, also beautiful forms of Campanulaceae, Gentiana, Meconopsis, Saxifraga and many others.
The simplest form of the definite type of the inflorescence is seen in Anemone nemorosa and in gentianella (Gentiana acaulis), where the axis terminates in a single flower, no other flowers being produced upon the plant.
In the mountains of Peru we find such characteristic northern genera as Draba, Alchemilla, Saxifraga, Valeriana, Gentiana and Bartsia.
Taking, however, the Andean flora as typical, it contains a very marked endemic element; Ball finds that half the genera and four-fifths of the species are limited to it; on the other hand, that half the species of Gamopetalae belong to cosmopolitan genera such as Valeriana, Gentiana, Bartsia and Gnaphalium.