BOTANIOAL INFORMATION. 189 
before sunrise, with a tolerably clear sky, I have found it a pretty sure 
indieation of a fine day ; and the contrary when the thermometer is 
high, however bright the sky may be. 
My Rio Negro collections include examples of nearly every Natural 
Order of plants. Leguminose continue to constitute a large proportion 
of them, but Cesalpiniee and Mimosee are more numerous than Papi- 
lionacee, which was not the case in the localities previously visited. I 
have several large-flowered Loranthi, not found at Santarem, numerous 
Rubiacee, Myrtles, and Melastomas almost without end, and some 
curious intermediate forms between these two Orders, Lecythidee are 
not searce, but many of them very difficult of access, on aecount of 
their large size. The small-fruited species ef Lecythis are called by the 
Indians Macacarecuya, or the “monkey’s drinking-cup,” their fruit 
quite resembling a cup, when the lid has fallen off. — Myrsinez are far 
more abundant here than I have seen them on the Amazon: they are 
all shrubs or small trees, reminding me of the currant-berry by the 
aspect, and often by the odour of their pendulous racemes of small 
flowers, which are however occasionally more gaily coloured. The 
Barra has afforded me five Myristice previously unnoticed, and it is 
worthy of remark that in every tree of this genus I have met with, the 
branches are arranged in whorls of five ; but the secondary ramification 
does not follow the same law. Soon after our arrival the banks of the 
streams were quite gay with a small Tiliaceous tree, bearing large, 
white, star-like flowers; it agrees in most respects so well with the 
Mollia speciosa of Mart. and Zuce. (gathered also at the Barra) that I 
have little doubt of its being the same, although it recedes somewhat 
from the generic character given in Endlicher; the stamens, instead of 
being collected “in phalanges quinque," are arranged in ten parcels, 
five outer and five inner, the former having purple anthers and green 
pollen, and the latter yellow anthers and yellow pollen. — u 
Grasses are less numerous here than at Santarem, but they show 
more novelty of form. ‘There are three Selaginelle in the woods, but 
Ferns are scarce, occurring only towards the head-waters of the iga- 
ripés; they include however a few species of Trichomanes new to me. 
Orchids are still not very numerous, but there are a few, both terres- 
trial and epiphytal, which I have not previously met with. The Palms - 
I am much interested in; they are far more numerous than at Santa- 
rem, and, I believe, include several undescribed species. I expect 1 
have, amongst new species, one Mazimiliana, one Euterpe, one Iriartea, 
