342 THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE IN THE FOREST. 
leaving the remains of the lately crowing smotherer bruised, torn, and 
bleeding. 
The elbowing which goes on here differs from that in the “high 
woods” in the fact that, the struggle being so much the greater, the 
army of combatants has put on armor. There are no weak, soft crea- 
tures here. Almost as soon as the seedlings grow they assume their 
weapons. Cover a man from head to foot with needles all pointing out- 
ward, and set him to elbow himself through a crowd, and you have 
something like what is actually the fact with a genus of comparatively 
low palms (Bactris). The stems are densely clothed with needle-like 
spines, while the ribs of the fronds have the same aggressive spikes, 
all seeming to say defiantly ‘“ Noli me tangere!” Not content with a 
single stem, these palms grow in clumps, every new sucker taking its 
place beyond the others and pushing its weaker neighbors farther out 
of the way. Most of the low shrubs have stiff and rigid branches, 
which of themselves form a protection, but not content with this, they 
often have short, stiff thorns, ready to tear both the leaves and stems 
of any young plant which tries to force its way through them. Having 
to contend against such strong opponents, the climbers put on their 
armor as well. The Desmoncus covers its stem with spines, and insinu- 
ates its young fronds through some little gap toward the light. Step 
by step it ascends, the fronds opening one by one, each provided with 
amost formidable arrow-head having a dozen pairs of barbs, which 
effectually hold up the weak trailing stem. These barbs are most dan- 
gerous weapons of offense to boatmen coming swiftly down the streams, 
as they hang over as if fishing for anything that comes in their way. 
Beyond the line of bushes, and actually in the water, grows the tree- 
like Mocca-Mocea (Moxtrichardia arborescens), a curious species of aroid 
which has sueceeded in developing itself to a wonderful size. In its 
young state it is provided with spines, so as to be able to push its way, 
but as it grows upward these are no longer necessary, and are there- 
fore not found on the upper partof the stem. When the water is shal- 
low they form an impenetrable phalanx of several yards deep all along 
the shore, their stems being often 20 feet high and packed as closely 
together as possible. 
It might be supposed that the grasses other than bamboos would be 
entirely absent from the forest region, but such is not the case. One 
species, Panicum elephantipes, has succeeded in getting over the diffi- 
culties by taking its place as a water plant. Being provided with large 
creeping hollow stems, it anchors itself to the branch of some tree 
that meets the water, and from this point extends outward and along 
the shore. Growing very quickly, it often covers the surface for some 
distance from the line of mocca-moceas, and might prove a formidable 
obstruction, did not the river swell at intervals and carry oft large 
masses, like floating islands, down to the sea. 
Beyond the fringe of rampant vegetation nothing can be seen from 
