42 GLIMPSES IXTO PLAXJ-UFE 



The lovely tribe of orchids make the same 

 provision for long periods of drought. Many of 

 the species live in countries where the rainy season 

 lasts about six months, and is succeeded by as 

 many months of dryness and heat. 



The air-plants we f)btain from these countries 

 have large pseudo-bulbs, that is, the stems are 

 enlarged so as to be storehouses of nutriment upon 

 which the plant exists, and by means of which 

 it brings out the gorgeous flowers which make 

 Brazilian forests such fairylands of beauty ; every 

 tree-branch being laden with parasitic orchids, 

 their lovely blossoms lasting month after month 

 without the aid of rain or dew, because Nature 

 has provided each plant with its special store of 

 food, and has thus adapted it to the position it is 

 created to adorn. 



Another of these pcrching-jilants is Tillaiuisia 

 Usnoides, known in Florida as Spanish moss, and 

 often called "old man's beard." It hangs from 

 the tree-branches in tufts, like grey hair, and grows 

 in such ])rofusion that it is collected and used for 

 stuffing cushions. This curious plant has no roots, 

 but simply hangs from the branches, and lives like 



