258 THE DWARF COCOA-NUT OF CEYLON. 



Piauhy, as well as that of Goyaz, and tlie whole of Rio Grande 

 do Norte, Ceara, and parts of Maranham and Para, particu- 

 larly their southern portions. To the plants which grow in this 

 region Martins gives tlie name of Hamadryades. 



5. Regio Calido-Humida. — The country which stretches 

 northerly from the province of Ceara, declines towards the great 

 plain of the Amazon. The low mountains consist of sandstone 

 belonging to the chalk formation, and the country abounds in 

 springs, streams, rivers, and lakes ; frequent rains continuing to 

 fall through the greater portion of the year, and moisture during 

 the latter part of it, brought by the winds from the Atlantic 

 Ocean, all here unite in producing the greatest vigour and luxu- 

 riance of the vegetation. Dry situations are scarcely to be met 

 with, except on the sides of some of the low hills in the interior 

 of this almost wholly unexplored tract, wliich stretches between 

 the Atlantic and tlie Rio Madeira. Lofty forests, intricate and 

 wild, but never so grand or so beautiful as those of the south- 

 eastern parts of the empire, cover by far the greater part of it. 

 Pasturage is chiefly found on the hilly lowlands, seldom on the 

 mountains as in Minas. To the north it is bounded by the Pa- 

 rame range, and to tlie west by the ramifications of the Andes. 

 Tiie whole of the vast tract of country which this region includes 

 has hitherto scarcely been examined, so that a rich field still 

 remains for those who may venture into it. To the plants pecu- 

 liar to it Martins gives the name of Niades. 



Such, then, are the regions which Martins has proposed to 

 include the entire vegetation of Brazil. There are, however, 

 certain plants which extend over many or all the regions. The 

 Dryades and Hamadryades, for example, appear throughout 

 the whole extent of the tropics ; and, in like manner, many of 

 the trees that belong to the Regio Nemorosa and the Regio 

 Calido-sicca. Many herbaceous plants are also equally generally 

 distributed. To these widely-extended plants Martins gives the 

 name of Vagce ; and many of these, he observes, belong to the 

 northern tropical forms of Eastern South America, or the Flora 

 of the Orinoco district ; whilst those of the Regio Extra- Tropica 

 ought to be reckoned to belong, not to Brazil, but to the Flora 

 of Buenos Ayres, Tucuman, or that of the Cis-andine extra-tro- 

 pical empire. 



XXVII.— The Dwarf Cocoa-Nat of Ceylon. Note by the 

 Vice-Secretary. 



It having been made known to the Council of the Horticul- 

 tural Society that there exists, on the coast of Ceylon, a race of 

 pigmy Cocoa-nut trees, means were sought for introducing it 



