H8 RELATION BETWEEN CLIMATE AND VEGETATION 



tingas, or deciduous forests, the Mangaha {Hancornia speciosci) 

 is common, as are also the Araca and Guava, two species of 

 Psidium. Another delicious fruit belonging to this genus is the 

 3Iarangaha. It is the produce of a little slirub about two feet 

 high, which grows in great abundance on the flat top of the 

 Serra de Araripe. It is th-e Psidium 7ianum of my catalogue, 

 No. 1611. The woods near the town produce a fruit belonging 

 to a new species of Mouriria (31. Pussa, Gardn.), the berry of 

 which is black, and about the size of a large gooseberry. In 

 appearance and taste it very much resembles the fruit of Hugenia 

 caulijiora^ D. C It is called Pussa by the Indians, a name I 

 have retained as its specific appellation. The great cause to 

 which the fertility of this part of the province may be attributed 

 exists in the numerous springs which rise from the base of the 

 Serra de Araripe, and which are again divaricated in a thousand 

 directions for the purpose of irrigation. In this place I was 

 obliged to remain about five months, as the country to the west- 

 ward, to which it was my intention to proceed, is utterly im- 

 practicable during the dry season, being then quite a desert, and 

 atFording neitlier grass nor water for horses; but during that 

 time I was actively employed in making excursions, and bringing 

 together a fine herbarium of the plants of the district. The 

 Serra de Araripe being the best field for my researches, it was 

 frequently visited. Many days, at different times, were spent in 

 exploring its ravines, sides, and summit, every trip yielding me 

 large supplies of new and rare plants. The greater proportion 

 of the wooded districts around Crato consists of deciduous trees 

 and shrubs forming Catinga forests ; but in low moist localities, 

 and along the base of the serra, a great many of the trees and 

 shrubs are evergreen. One of the most common of the denizens 

 of the Catingas here is Magonia glabrata, St. Hil., and it is one 

 of the few truly gregarious trees I have met with in Brazil, co- 

 vering large tracts for miles, to the exclusion of almost every 

 other. In general it is a tree from thirty to forty feet high ; but 

 old individuals attain often to a much greater height. Like 

 many of the other inhabitants of the Catingas, its flowers appear 

 before the leaves. The blossoms are produced in large panicles, 

 are of a yellowish-green colour, and very sweet-scented. The 

 tree is called Imgi by the people of the country, who apply it 

 to many useful purposes. An infusion of the bark of the root is 

 employed to poison fish, and that of the stem to cure old ulcers, 

 while an excellent soap is afforded by the large cotyledons of the 

 seeds. Another tree, wliich grows in similar situations, is a 

 species of Caryocar; and makes a fine appearance when covered 

 with its large racemes of yellow flowers. The oily fruit is a 

 great favourite with the inhabitants, and the hard wood is used 



