274 RELATION BETWEEN CLIMATE AND VEGETATION 



parts are covered with low trees and shrubs, principally consist- 

 ing oi Melastomads, Mallow-worts, Myrtle-blooms, and Solanums, 

 together with great abundance of Schinus terehinthifolius. In 

 the hedges by the road-side I saw several species of Cissus, 

 JBignonia, Paulinia, &c., and in moist places abundance of 

 Dichorizandra thyrsiflora in beautiful flower. The sandy fields 

 were full of a large species of Cereus, among which many plants 

 of Fourcroya gigantea were to be seen throwing up their 

 flowering stems to the height of from 30 to 40 feet. In the small 

 streams and marshes are to be found some curious, as well as 

 beautiful, aquatic plants. Among these may be mentioned a 

 large white water-lily {Nymphcsa aynpla'? D.C.), a fine. Po7ite- 

 deria with large blue flowers, Cabomba dentata, (Gardn.,) &c. 

 The marshy grounds are in general covered with thick forests 

 of small trees, the most common of which is a simple-leaved, 

 white flowered Bignonia. On the stems of these trees grew 

 three species of Orchideous plants in great plenty ; one of these 

 is the lovely Cattleya Loddigesii, Lindl., the second Oncidinm 

 Jlexuosum, the stems of which are often 6 feet high, and full of 

 blossoms. The third is a species of Burlingtonia. The whole 

 ascent of the mountains to the Fazenda, or farm, at which I took 

 up my residence for several months, and which stands at an ele- 

 vation of upwards of 3000 feet, is covered with a dense wood. The 

 magnificence of these forests can scarcely be imagined by those 

 wlio have not seen them and penetrated into their recesses. 

 The remnants of virgin forests which still exist in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the capital, altliough they appear grand to the eye 

 of the newly arrived European, become insignificant when com- 

 pared with the mass of giant vegetation that clothes the sides of 

 the Organ Mountains. Many of these trees are of immense 

 size, their trunks and branches covered with myriads of Epi- 

 phytes, consisting of Orchids, Bromeliads, Ferns, Arads, 

 Peppers, &c. A great proportion of the largest of these trees I 

 afterwards found to be species of Ficus, Myrtles, Laurus, 

 Melastomads, and Leguminous plants. Many of them have their 

 trunks encircled by twiners, the stems of which are often thicker 

 than those they surround. This is particularly the case with a 

 species of Ficus, called by the Brazilians Cipo Matador. It 

 runs straight up the tree to which it has attached itself, but at 

 the distance of about every 10 feet it throws out from each side 

 a thick clasper, which curves round, and closely entwines the 

 otiier stem. As both the trees increase in size, the pressure 

 ultimately becomes so great that the supporting one dies from 

 the embrace of the parasite. At the lower part of the moun- 

 tains the underwood consists principally of shrubs belonging to 

 the natural orders Melastomads, Myrtle-blooms, Composites, Cin- 



