Information resptcthig Botanical Travellers, V^l 



breadth and length. They possess their own Flora ; Rhexia and 

 Melastomee, form perhaps the striking feature, as their large and 

 purple flowers are discerned at a great distance amid these verdant 

 isles ; but on approaching many plants of that interesting tribe the 

 Orchidece may be discovered, where one would have thought it im-. 

 possible that they could derive nourishment. The most common on 

 these piles of syenite, or on the less elevated rocky shelves, are Cyr^ 

 topodium (Andersonii), two new species of Epidendrum, Schomburgkia 

 marginata and crispa, chiefly the former species. It was in a similar 

 situation, where I found a Melocactus, the first which I discovered in 

 Guiana ; Euphorbia, Peperomice ; and if water gush from these rocks, 

 GesnericB, Tillandsia, Bromelice, &c. are very common. Many of 

 these plains are bathed by rills of limpid water, lined by Mauritia 

 palms, and their banks adorned by Rhexia Hibiscus, Oenotherce, Jus- 

 sieae and a Pkaseolus with large yellow flowers. Heliconice, se- 

 veral individuals of Cannece, and among them a gigantic Thalia, are 

 to be found at the decided marshy situations. Before we leave 

 however, the vegetable productions of the savannahs, I have yet to 

 mention three species of Cyrtopodium, which appear to be unde- 

 scribed. They are terrestrial, and the most common among them 

 recommends itself by its fragrance, and the long period which it re- 

 mains in flower. The second species has a panicled scape with nu- 

 merous yellow flowers, spotted with brown, and the third appears 

 merely a variety of the former, from which it diff'ers only in the 

 darker colouring of its flowers. The Indians when travelling over 

 the savannahs are in the practice of setting the grass on fire, and if 

 the weather has been dry, the conflagration spreads to a great ex- 

 tent, and not only the grass, but likewise the foliage of the trees 

 which cover the savannahs, is destroyed by the fiery element ; our 

 Cyrtopodia survive however the ordeal, and it appears as if they 

 wanted an impetus to call forth their florescence. If rain follows the 

 conflagration, the raceme soon after makes its appearance from below 

 the pseudo-bulb, and is in full blossom before the plant pushes forth 

 a leaf. The pseudo-bulbs, having been injured by the fire, perish ; 

 and if I except a few instances, I have not seen during my repeated 

 travels over the savannahs many bulbs which bore leaves on their 

 apex, or plants which possessed leaves, and blossoms at the same 

 time. The fragrance of the Cyrtopodium, or Paulista, as it is called 

 by the Brazilians, reminds me of another plant, which with regard to 

 its odour might vie with the former. It is a Neurocarpum, and 

 its beautiful coerulean flowers, with yellowish disc, sometimes an 

 inch and a half to two inches long, and which appear generally in 

 pairs, diflfuse a fragrance which resembles that of our carnation. 



