Information respecting Botanical Travellers, 467 



certainly for size, but for symmetry of form. It bears a yellow eat- 

 able drupe, about as big as a large yellow gooseberry. This fruit is 

 called Oyty, and the tree itself Oytycera. Opposite the house, on the 

 other side of the river, there extends a large tract of wooded country, 

 consisting chiefly of small trees and shrubs, which have sprung up 

 since the Virgin forests have been felled ; it is called Mato de Torre. 

 Between this wood and the river stretches a broad piece of open 

 ground partly covered with short grass, and partly with low shrubs 

 and herbaceous plants. The former consist of several species of 

 Solcmum and Mimosa, some Myrtacecz and suffruticose Vernonice. 

 Among the herbaceous plants I found beautiful specimens of the 

 lovely Anyelonia salicaricefolia, and a large white-flowered Cleome. 

 Jatropha urens and J. gossypiifolia are also common in this tract, in 

 the middle of which are some small freshwater lakes that afforded me 

 some good plants. To my great delight the first excursion to this spot 

 was rewarded with that curious aquatic fern, named after Mr. Parker 

 of Liverpool, Parker ia pteridioides . The lower parts of the fronds 

 are much inflated, by which the whole plant, being rendered speci- 

 fically lighter than the water, floats upon the surface of the shallows ; 

 its long fibrous roots only reaching the mud at bottom. Along the 

 borders of these lakes grow several large Polygona, one of them has 

 stout spikes of greenish white flowers, and another considerably re- 

 sembles our P. amphibium : there also abound Pontederia paniculata, 

 Hydrolea spinosa, and a species of Ammannia. Several parts are 

 covered "with a floating turf, consisting principally of different Cype- 

 racece; and where this does not exist, Jussicea nutans throws along the 

 surface of the water its long floating branches, which are upborne 

 by numerous small white cylindrical bladders attached to the lower 

 side. The flowers are white, and about the size of those of Ranun- 

 culus aquatilis, to which, at a distance, it bears a considerable resem- 

 blance. Mingled with the Jussicea are vast quantities of the curious 

 Azolla magellanica and Pistia Stratiotes. 



In the wood itself grow many species of Myrtacece, a few Mela* 

 stomacece, and several fine trees of the Cashew ; also a good many 

 species of Coccoloba, and great abundance of Vismia b? , asiliensis, the 

 latter often attaining the stature of a small tree, together with nume- 

 rous Byrsonimce. There are also several small trees of Eschweilera 

 parvifolia (Martius), which when covered, as was then the case, 

 with its curious pale-yellow flowers, presented a beautiful object. 

 Twining among these and other trees I observed fine plants of 

 Gomphia acuminata, the large panicles of golden blossoms contrasting 

 most agreeably with the shining dark-green foliage ; likewise a spe- 



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