228 VIEWS OF NATURE. 



trees), sometimes stretched obliquely like ropes from a mast; 

 along these the tiger-cat may be seen climbing to and fro 

 with wonderful agility. 



The self-sustaining form of the bluish-flowered Aloe 

 tribe (26) presents a marked contrast to the pliant climbing 

 lianes with their fresh and brilliant verdure. When there is 

 a stem it is almost branchless, closely marked with spiral 

 rings, and surrounded by a crown of succulent, fleshy, long- 

 pointed leaves, which radiate from a centre. The lofty- 

 stemmed aloe docs not grow in clusters like other social 

 plants, but stands isolated in the midst of dreary solitudes, 

 imparting to the tropical landscape a peculiar melancholy 

 (one might almost say African) character. 



To this aloe form belong, in reference to physiognomic 

 resemblance and the impression they produce on the land- 

 scape: the Pitcairnias, from the family of the Bromeliaceae, 

 which in the chain of the Andes grow out of clefts in the 

 rock; the great Pournetia pyramidata (the Atschupalla of 

 the elevated plateaux of New Grenada); the American aloe 

 (Agave), Bromelia Ananas and B. Karatas; those rare 

 species of the family of the Euphorbiaceae, which have thick, 

 short, candelabra-like divided stems; the African aloe, and 

 the Dragon tree, Dracwna Draco, of the family of the Aspho- 

 delere; and lastly the tall flowering Yucca, allied to the 

 Liliacea?. 



While the Aloe form is characterised by an air of solemn 

 repose and immobility, the grass form (27), especially as 

 regards the physiognomy of the arborescent grasses, is expres- 

 sive of buoyant lightness and flexible slenderncss. In both 

 the Indies, bamboo groves form arched and shady walks. 



The smooth and often inclined and waving stem of the 

 tropical grasses exceeds in height our alders and oaks. As 

 far north as Italy, this form already begins, in the Arundo 

 Donax, to raise itself from the ground, and to determine, by 

 height as well as mass, the natural character of the country. 



