KELATION BETWEEN CLIMATE AKD VEGETATION. 197 



this place, a new species of Tropaeolum ( T. orthoceros, Gardn.) 

 ^rows very abundantly. It is somewhat similar to T. aduncum, the 

 principal ditference being' its straight spur. Here also the lovely 

 Gloxinia speciosa is. to "be met with in the greatest profusion in 

 clefts of the rocks, where a little soil has accumulated. G. cau- 

 lescens is certainly nothing more than a variety of the former in 

 a more luxuriant state : at this place, as also in the valley of 

 Rio Comprido, where I first met with them, they both grew 

 abundantly together. This mountain also presents a precipitous 

 face to the sea, and in the expectation of finding some orchidace- 

 ous plants on it, I paid it a visit. In the belt of native wood, 

 which exists between the sea and the base of the perpendicular 

 face, I met with Dichorizandra thyrsijiora, and several fine Ferns, 

 different from any I had elsewhere seen. On reaching the face 

 of the mountain, I found its lower part covered with various 

 species of Bromelia, Tdlandsia, Begonia, Gesnera, and Cactus, 

 with other plants which affect such situations. At an elevation 

 of several hundred feet I observed patches of a beautiful orchi- 

 daceous plant in full blossom, which I have no doubt was Cat- 

 tleija lahiata. There this lovely flower still continues to vegetate, 

 and will do so for generations to come, far from the reach of the 

 greedy collector. In bushy places here, I first met with Alstrce- 

 meria sahilloides, Mart., a large climbing species, bearing a very 

 large umbel of red and green flowers. 



An excursion to Jurujuba Bay, a little inlet on the opposite 

 side of the bay from Rio de Janeiro, was productive of many 

 interesting species of plants. It was there on dry bushy hills 

 that I first saw, in a wild state, the really beautiful Bougai?i- 

 villea spectabilis. In some places it grew very abundantly, and 

 as it climbs up into the tops of the trees, near which it grows, 

 the brilliant colour of the flowers renders it conspicuous in the 

 woods at a great distance. Of this plant I observed three well- 

 marked varieties,— one with flowers of a very pale pink colour, 

 a second has them of a dark crimson, and the third of a bright 

 scarlet colour. But the most interesting of all the plants that 

 I have met with, especially to the botanist, was a species of St. 

 Hilaire's new genus Affonsia. It belongs to the Leguminous 

 Order, and its nearest aflfinity is with Inga; but what is 

 very remarkable, every flower contains five distinct carpels. In 

 the midst of a coffee field situated beyond the hills of Jurujuba, 

 I obtained fine specimens of a species of the beautiful genus 

 Petrea. It was twining round the stem and up into the branches 

 of a large tree, which had been spared from the destruction of 

 the virgin forest of which it had formerly constituted part. 

 Lafocnsia hrasiliensis was another of my acquisitions. It grew 

 in great plenty in a marsh along with Typha angmtifolia, form- 



