June, i893. FLOWERS IN THE GUIANA FOREST. 413 



while others unfold with the dawn and droop and wither in an hour 

 or two. 



Wallace, in his " Tropical Nature," heads a section, " Compara- 

 tive Scarcity of Flowers," and states that " conspicuous masses of 

 showy flowers are so rare, that weeks and months may be passed 

 without observing a single flowering plant worthy of special admira- 

 tion." This is such a sweeping assertion, and so contrary to the 

 facts, that, notwithstanding the author's status as an authority on the 

 tropics, we can hardly do other than try to refute it. 



In the dark arches of the forest scarcely a flower is to be seen ; 

 but even here we often come upon a litter of golden or crimson 

 petals which have fallen from above, so that, although we cannot see 

 that the tree is flowering overhead, we know it must be a magnificent 

 spectacle if we could only rise above it. Along the banks of the 

 rivers and creeks there are always flowers, sometimes few, sometimes 

 many, but at no time entirely wanting. Most of these are borne on 

 creeping and scrambling vines, some are particularly showy, and 

 even an ordinary observer must admit that many of them are worthy 

 of special admiration. Again, there is the sand-reef where the low 

 bushes, at certain seasons, are decked with flowers, which can be 

 easily seen, and are by no means rare. 



One of the reasons why so few flowers are noticed is because 

 they are not looked for at the right time. It cannot be expected that 

 forest trees will be in flower all the year round, although they may 

 blossom twice instead of once in twelve months. In Guiana the 

 flowering seasons are in February and March, and July and August. 

 During these periods masses of showy flowers are common, although 

 many of them are so far above our heads, or so hidden by the forest 

 canopy, that we can only get an imperfect glimpse of them. 



The expanse of green foliage is so great as almost to overpower 

 all but the most gaudy flowers. Whites and all dull colours are 

 obliterated, and even yellows combine with the sunlit green in such 

 a manner as to be invisible at a distance, unless, as in the case of 

 the etabally {Vochysia), the whole tree is covered with flowers. The 

 large waxy-white flowers of the clusias and yellow and cream Malva- 

 ceae, are quite invisible, while the great spikes of Mimoseae can hardly 

 be seen from the ground unless specially looked for. Rarely does a 

 tree become bare at the time of flowering, and even when this takes 

 place the individual is almost lost in the great crowd. The foliage is 

 so dense that we can only compare the expanse to a roof. When 

 Wallace states that from some elevated point you often gaze down 

 upon an unbroken expanse without a single patch of bright colour, 

 he speaks the truth, but it does not follow that there are no showy 

 flowers there. Take away the background of foliage, if this were 

 possible, and many a brilliant group of flowers would appear. Even 

 in an English orchard the difference between those trees which flower 

 before and those with the leaves is enormous. 



