A NATURALIST IN BRAZIL 



beaded with the blue-black fruits, about the size of a damson, that 

 seem to be nailed on to the bark ; the fruits of the Jaca, as large as 

 a man's head, seem to grow directly from the trunk and boughs 

 (Plate 22), and so do the violet fruits of the Cacao-tree, as large as 

 a clenched fist. In one of the public gardens of Sao Paulo there was 

 a spreading fig-tree under whose shade I found it pleasant to sit 

 until one of the figs growing from the boughs fell on my clothes, 

 which were stained with the oozing milk. 



In all such trees, of course, the flowers too grow on the trunk, 

 and the eflfect is often very beautiful. In Olinda it was always a 

 pleasure, when I left the monastery garden for the street, to pass 

 through an alley of Jambo-trees, which, with their crimson flowers, 

 set like candles on the branches and glowing in the green foliage, 

 looked as though they had been illuminated. 



Even the leaves of the tropical trees contribute to the monumental 

 effect of the whole. When I was in Ceylon I used to think, when 

 I looked at the Palmyra palms which grew on the slopes of the 

 sandhills, with their great fan-shaped leaves outstretched against 

 the blue sky, that these trees were more like examples of the wood- 

 carver's art than living plants. But although the huge leaves of 

 the palms are not rivalled by those of other trees, yet there are 

 many species with large and ornamental leaves : for example, the 

 Breadfruit-tree (Plate 22), which comes from the Moluccas, but has 

 been naturalized throughout Brazil. With its huge, deeply-incised 

 leaves it is a magnificent sight. There is a climbing plant, the 

 Monstera, which has deeply-incised leaves that are also perforated, 

 presumably in order that the sunlight may fall on the lower leaves, 

 which otherwise would be completely shaded by those above them. 

 In Europe this handsome plant is grown indoors, and is known as 

 the Philodendron. 



But in the tropics even the entire oval leaves often attain enormous 

 proportions. The great leaves of the Magnolias, which extend into 

 the temperate zone, are familiar to Europeans; but in Sumatra 

 there is a species of Magnolia whose leaves are more than forty 

 inches in length and twelve inches in breadth ! In order to increase 

 the strength of such leaves the two halves are often bent upwards 

 from the midrib, or the edges are fluted like corrugated iron. Such 

 leaves are very thick, and of a leathery texture, and inevitably 

 remind one of painted zinc. 



Many leaves are stiffened by the silicification of their surface, 

 which increases their durability, so that the tree can take its time 

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