40 TROPICAL NATURE, AND OTHER ESSAYS. 



to tropical as distinguished from temperate vegetation: 

 Such are the various groups of palms, ferns, ginger- worts, 

 and wild plantains, arums, orchids, and bamboos ; and 

 under these heads we shall give a short account of 

 the part they take in giving a distinctive aspect to 

 the equatorial forests. 



Palms. Although these are found throughout the 

 tropics and a few species even extend into the warmer 

 parts of the temperate regions, they are yet so much 

 more abundant and varied within the limits of the region 

 we are discussing that they may be considered as among 

 the most characteristic forms of vegetation of the equa- 

 torial zone. They are, however, by no means generally 

 present, and we may pass through miles of forest with- 

 out even seeing a palm. In other parts they abound ; 

 either forming a lower growth in the lofty forest, or in 

 swamps and on hill-sides sometimes rising up above the 

 other trees. On river-banks they are especially con- 

 spicuous and elegant, bending gracefully over the stream, 

 their fine foliage waving in the breeze, and their stems 

 often draped with hanging creepers. 



The chief feature of the palm tribe consists in the 

 cylindrical trunk crowned by a mass of large and some- 

 what rigid leaves. They vary in height from a few feet 

 to that of the loftiest forest-trees. Some are stemless, 

 consisting only of a spreading crown of large pinnate 

 leaves; but the great majority have a trunk slender in 

 proportion to its height. Some of the smaller species 

 have stems no thicker than a lead pencil, and four or five 

 feet high ; while the great Mauritia of the Amazon has 

 a trunk full two feet in diameter, and more than 

 100 feet high. Some species probably reach a height 



