302 YIEWS, &C. PHYSIOGNOMY OF PLANTS. 



physiognomical beauty of the palm that its leaYes are directed 

 aspiringly upwards throughout the whole period of its dura- 

 tion, (and not only in the youth of the tree, as is the case with 

 the Date-Palm, which is the only one introduced into Europe.) 

 The more acute the angle made by the leaves with the upper 

 part of the stem (that is, the nearer they approach the perpen- 

 dicular,) the grander and nobler is the form of the tree. 

 How different is the aspect of the pendent leaves of the Palma 

 de Covija del Orinoco y de los Llanos de Calabozo (Corypha 

 tectorum\ from the more horizontal leaves of the Date and 

 Cocoa-nut palms, and the lofty heavenward-pointing branches 

 of the Jagua, the Cucurito, and Pirijao. 



" Nature seems to have accumulated all the beauties 

 of form in the Jagua palm, which, intermingled with the 

 Cucurito or Vadgihai, whose stem rises to a height of 80 or 

 even more than 100 feet, crowns the granite rocks at the 

 cataracts of Atures and Maypures, and which we also occa- 

 sionally saw on the lonely banks of the Cassiquiare. Their 

 smooth and slender stems rise to a height of from 64 to 75 

 feet, projecting like a colonnade above the dense mass of the 

 surrounding foliage. These aerial summits present a marked 

 and beautiful contrast with the thickly-leaved species of Ceiba, 

 and with the forest of Laurinece, Calophyllum, and the dif- 

 ferent species of Amyris which surround them. Their leaves, 

 which seldom exceed seven or eight in number, incline verti- 

 cally upwards to a height of 16 or 17 feet, and are curled 

 at the extremities in a kind of feathery tuft. The paren- 

 chyma of the leaf is of a thin grass-like texture, causing the 

 leaflets to wave with graceful lightness on the gently oscillating 

 leafstalk. The floral buds burst forth, in all species of palms, 

 from the stem immediately beneath the leaves ; and the mode 

 in which this takes place modifies their physiognomical cha- 

 racter. Thus in some, as in Corozo del Sinu, the sheath is 

 perfectly erect, and the fruit rises like a thyrsus, resembling 

 the fruits of the Bromelia. In the greater number, the sheaths, 

 which in some species are smooth, and in others very prickly 

 and rough, incline downwards. In some, again, the male 

 blossoms are of a dazzling white, and it may then be seen 

 shining from a great distance ; but in most species of palms 

 they are yellow, closely compressed, and of an almost faded 

 appearance, even when they first burst from the spathe. 



