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NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



such as Wareemeah, are sprouting from 

 stumps of the old forest. There are 

 also a few lime trees, Citrus medica acida, 

 planted years ago and almost smothered 

 under other growths, but still bearing 

 abundantly. Guavas, Psidium grow 

 here and there. 



In many places, both clearing and 

 jungle, Melastomas grow rank, some as 

 trees, others as bushes, shrubs, or 

 even crawling, vine-like, over sandy 

 places. One form called Mesopra by 

 the Bovianders, Bellucia grossularioides 

 Triana, is common about the bungalow, 

 and its coarse rough leaves, woody scaly 

 stems and rounded white blossoms, 

 all form a haven for a whole fauna of 

 insect life. 



Along the jungle edge of the clearing 

 the jungle hides its bareness by an 

 abundant growth of vegetation. Among 

 these is torchwood. Idea heptaphyllum 

 Aubl., with its dense foliage, whose 

 wood, when teased out, is used by the 

 Indians as candles. Blood-leaf, Vismia 

 ferruginea H. B. K. and guianensis 

 Pers. with great leathery leaves beloved 

 by a multitude of insects, Trysil trees 

 with the finest of pinnated foliage, 

 Arrancanduck, and Cassia. Here too 

 we find tree Cashews, Clusia, Wild 

 Cocoa and Messopra, with small flowers, 

 and Maibike with its stems lined with 

 lavender bloom. 



Along shore the edge of the jungle 

 is varied by many smaller trees and 

 vines. Here grows the Wild Cocoa 

 Pachira aquatica Aubl. flowering twice 

 a year, each blossom one foot across. 

 The close-packed seeds of this plant 

 are delicious, either raw or roasted. 

 Cassia is common here, and Posequcria 

 but vines have the best chance and 

 sometimes ramify for several hundred 

 ft. Especially noticeable are AUa- 

 mamdas, Bignonias, Petrea and Sourou- 

 bea guianensis Aubl., the last with its 

 glossy leaves and panicles of stiff, 

 scarlet flowers. Its near relative Mare- 

 gravia vies with it in abundance near 

 shore, and sometimes presents a solid 

 front, obscuring the foliage of the re- 

 maining trees and bushes behind it. 



Another shore plant, which in certain 

 positions becomes almost a vine is the 

 caterpillar flower, Combretum laxum 

 Loefl. with its brilliant yellow and 

 scarlet blossoms. 



Spider lilies, Hymenocallis, hold up 

 their drooping, streaming petals from 

 among the sedges and reeds, while in 

 swampy areas grow great clumps of 

 ginger lilies Hedychium coronarium, 

 Konig. In dry clearing edges at the 

 time of the early rains, single plants of 

 scarlet tiger lilies, Hippeastrum, appear. 



Although the jungle growth is so 

 luxuriant, yet the soil is very thin, 

 a mere skim of black mold from 6 in. 

 to 2 ft. lying on the sand and clay. 

 An Indian cassava field planted in 

 freshly cleared jungle soil will so deplete 

 the ground that a second crop is never 

 attempted on the same field. This 

 is also true of commercial ventures in 

 producing crops on this soil. Three 

 attempts have been made at rearing 

 crops, first sisal hemp, second rubber 

 and third cassava. But all these at- 

 tempts have failed dismally. 



2. Animal life 



a. Luxuriant rain-forest 



In the rain forest of Kartabo; the 

 mammals range from the mouse opossum 

 to the jaguar and tapir; the birds from 

 the tiniest of humming birds to the 

 harpy eagle; the reptiles and amphib- 

 ians from the smallest frog to 25 ft. 

 boa constrictors; the fish range from 

 half-inch Tomeurus to nine foot catfish. 

 The worms show extremes from minute 

 round worms to earth worms three feet 

 long, and the insects from almost micro- 

 scopic Coleopters to giant rhinoceros 

 bettles and moon moths with a 12-inch 

 spread of wings. 



The forest or jungle is divided into 

 four horizontal zones or strata; the 

 floor of the forest, the lower forest up 

 20 ft., the Mid-Forest as high as seventy 

 and the treetops from 150 to 200 ft. 

 above the ground. The floras and 

 faunas of these zones are as distinct 

 as is the abyssmal for the plankton, and 



