THE FLORA OF GUIANA AND TRINIDAD 29 



agricultural experiment station, where are to be seen many varieties of 

 the principal tropical fruits, especially oranges and mangoes. The 

 latter are especially fine in Trinidad. 



Among the most striking features of the botanical garden are the 

 palms, of which there are many magnificent specimens, both native and 

 exotic. In the town itself palms are planted in great numbers, espe- 

 cially the stately cabbage palm " palmiste " of the French Creoles, prob- 

 ably the finest of all palms. It is a common sight to see clumps of 

 epiphytic orchids attached to the trunks of trees in the gardens of 

 Port of Spain. These are said to be very beautiful during the early 

 winter, but in July only a very few were in blossom. 



In Port of Spain there are magnificent trees in the parks and gar- 

 dens and along the roads. These are often of enormous size, and their 

 branches are frequently covered with epiphytes of various kinds, among 

 which the most conspicuous are the Bromeliads, and the curious Rhip- 

 salis Cassytha, a member of the Cactacese, but very different from most 

 of the family. This plant grows in immense pendent masses, some- 

 times ten feet or more in length, and is exceedingly common in Trini- 

 dad. Of the numerous large trees, the silk-cotton (Ceiba), the West 

 Indian cedar (Cedrcla odorata), and the sand-box {Hum crepitans) 

 were the commonest of the native species; but mahogany trees of large 

 size, and gigantic specimens of Pithecolobium Saman, are frequently 

 seen. A very curious native tree, Couropita guianensis, is sometimes 

 seen planted. This produces many short branches from the main 

 trunk, upon which the large red flowers are borne in great numbers. 

 These are followed by enormous globular fruits of such size as to fairly 

 entitle the tree to its popular name, " cannon-ball " tree. Space will 

 not permit of any further enumeration of the beautiful and curious 

 plants with which the gardens are filled. 



Much of the country about Port of Spain is still but little disturbed, 

 and even where it has been cleared, the neglected land soon reverts to 

 jungle. The wetter lowlands abound in palms, Aroids, Scitaminea?, 

 etc., much the same types that occur in the Guiana forest. The drier 

 hillsides, however, show a good many forms different from those of the 

 lower levels. A very common palm of the dry hillsides is Acrocomia 

 sclerocarpa, a species common to the Antilles also, and very common 

 in Jamaica. A very showy shrub of this region is a rubiaceous plant, 

 Warscewiczia coccinea. In this plant, as in the related Mussaenda of 

 the eastern tropics, one of the calyx lobes is much enlarged and petal- 

 like in color and texture. In Mussaenda this is white, but in War- 

 scewiczia it is a vivid carmine red, and the whole inflorescence strongly 

 suggests the familiar poinsettia— indeed the plant is locally known as 

 wild poinsettia. 



Ferns are much commoner in Trinidad than in Guiana, although 



