298 



OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



liverworts. Of the latter there were many interesting species, with 

 club-mosses and lichens in profusion. 



One of the most interesting of the epiphytes, is a species of 

 bladder-weed (Utn'cularia montana), whose drooping racemes of 

 large white flowers might well be mistaken for an orchid. 



To the botanist who visits equatorial America for the first time, 

 the 4 abundance and variety of palms will probably first attract atten- 



A B 



Fig. 82. — A. Cannon-ball tree (Couropita Guianensis), Port of Spain, Trinidad. 

 B. Cabbage-palms (Oreodoxa oleracea), Port of Spain. 



tion. There are many exceptionally beautiful species, and as they 

 often are gregarious, they give a characteristic stamp to the forest 

 vegetation. They are a much more conspicuous feature than in 

 any part of the eastern tropics with which the writer is acquainted. 

 The Araceae, too, are more numerous and varied than in the 

 tropics of the old world, and none of the old world species can rival 

 the giant climbing species like Anthurium, Philodendron, and 

 Monstera, so characteristic of the American tropics. 



