296 OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



but mostly out of flower at this season (June), but several very 

 handsome flowers were noted, especially Bromeliads with brilliant 

 red bracts, and the wild "Poinsettia" (Warczewicria coccinea), in 

 which one of the calyx-lobes is greatly enlarged and bright scarlet 

 in color. Big clumps of Heliconia bihai gay with the bright red and 

 yellow flower-spikes, made fine masses of color amid the rich 

 foliage, and presented a magnificent picture of tropical vegetation 

 in its fullest development. 



Savannas, like those in Surinam, also are found in Trinidad. 

 One of these visited by the writer, the Aripa savanna, was much 

 like the one already described, but the vegetation was more luxuri- 

 ant. The fan-palm of Guiana was represented by an even finer 

 species, Mauritia setigera, forming groves of considerable size. 

 Ground orchids, sundews, and bladder-weeds were abundant, but 

 like the palms, different species from those of Surinam. An in- 

 teresting fern, Schizaea pennula, and two club-mosses, Lycopodium 

 cernuum and L. Carolinianwn, were noted among other plants. 



A fine forest adjoined this savanna, with many beautiful palms: 

 Euterpe, Bactris, Attalea and Maximiliana, and there was an 

 abundant growth of epiphytes, including some small filmy-ferns. 



Among the trees in this forest, were numerous species of Clusia, 

 a peculiarly American genus, some of which begin life as epiphytes, 

 sending down aerial roots which finally strangle the host tree. 

 These parasitic Clusias, with their glossy magnolia-like leaves, 

 are very handsome, and resemble some of the strangling figs of 

 the eastern tropics. 



The highest mountain of Trinidad, Tucuchi, has an interesting 

 flora. The lower part of the mountain is largely occupied by plan- 

 tations of cacao (Theobroma cacao), but the upper part is covered 

 with heavy primaeval forest. At about 1,500 feet one enters a 

 splendid forest of lofty trees, with a heavy undergrowth of ferns, 

 palms, Heliconias, and various aroids, with shrubs and lianas 

 in great variety, altogether a fine example of a tropical rain-forest. 



At the top, some 3,000 feet elevation, the trees are smaller, but 

 dwarf palms were still abundant, and ferns were numerous and 

 beautiful. Several fine tree-ferns were common, and among others, 

 the most interesting were several species of Danaea, a member 

 of the ancient order Marattiales. The prothallia of these ferns 

 were abundant, and so large that they may be easily taken for 



