OBSERVED DURING THE RORAIMA EXPEDITION. 203 



velvety in texture, and of various shades of one colour, the colour of sunlight as it falls 

 through green young heech-leaves ; the heautii'ii\Zygopetaluml3'urkeii,1&eictib.f.[No. 50]*, 

 with flowers seeming like gigantic, pale-coloured "bee orchises" [Ophrys apifera, 1 1 mis.), 

 but far sweeter in scent ; in great abundance the rosy-flowered Pogonia pwrviflwa, Reichb. t. 

 [No. 115], which recalls in habit our English wild tulip (Tulipa sylvestris, L.) ; and, to 

 mention but one more among many, Ephlendrum elongatum, Jacq. [No. 42], its stems 

 varying in height from one to eight feet, its verbena-like clusters of flowers varying in 

 colour in different plants, some pale yellow, some fawn-colour, many pure rich pink, dark 

 purple, and even mauve. This last-mentioned orchid, it may be noted in passing, is 

 one of a group to which I shall presently refer. 



The effect of the whole is as of an Alpine meadow, coloured in early summer by 

 innumerable flowers of the brightest and most varied tints. 



If this tall vegetation be anywhere parted by the hand of the curious traveller, under- 

 neath it is seen a carpet of other, low-growing, plants — Pcepalanthus Schomburgkii 

 [No. 33] and P. jlavescens, Korw. [No. GO], Drosera communis, A. St.-IIil. ? [No. 313], 

 a pretty little orchid, Spirauthes bifida, Ilidley [No. 342], ferns, Lycopodiums, and 

 sphagnum-like mosses. 



One, perhaps the most remarkable, plant of the swamp has not yet been noticed. It is 

 the South-American Pitcher-plant, Hcliamphora nutans, Benth. [No. .258], which grows 

 in wide-spreading, very dense tufts in the wettest places, but where the grass happens not 

 to be long. Its red-veined pitcher-leaves, its delicate white flowers raised high on red- 

 tinted stems, its sturdy habit of growth, make it a pretty little picture wherever it grows. 

 But it attains its full size and best development, not down here in this swamp, but up on 

 the ledges on the cliff of Roraima, and even on the top. 



The vegetation of the drier, rocky patches is very different. A few shrubs of from four 

 to eight feet in height, a very few stunted and gnarled trees are there, a few single speci- 

 mens of the one Roraima palm (Geonoma Appuniana), which, as will presently be told, is 

 much more abundant higher up ; but more abundant are very dwarf shrubs of curiously 

 Alpine aspect, such as Gaultheria cordifolia, H. B. K. [No. 103], and various trailing 

 plants, such as a blackberry {Bubus guianensis, Focke [No. 106]), a passion-flower 

 [No. 110], and a few orchids and ferns. 



Of the orchids the most noteworthy is Oncidium nigratum, Lindl. [No. 114], its 

 delicately thin, but wiry and much-branched stems, five feet high or more, seeming to float 

 in the air a crowd of innumerable, tiny, butterfly-like flowers of cream-colour and 1 thick ; 

 but two others {Zijgopetalum Burkeii and Bpidendrum elongatum), which we have already 

 seen in rank luxuriance in the wetter parts of the swamp, grow also on these drier parts, 

 but are here much reduced in general habit, though with larger and brighter-coloured 

 flowers. Of the ferns the most striking are a beautifully delicately cut Scliizcea (S. dicho- 

 toma, Sw. [No. 100]) and a very remarkable Gymno gramme (G. elaphoglossoldes, Baker, 

 [Nos. 101 & 215]), of which more hereafter. 



Again, the tiny coppices which are on the swamp and the forest which bounds it 



* This is represented on the Organ Mountains by Z. Mackaii, Hook. 



