ON CAMELIAS, 61 
As both the trees increase in size, the pressure ultimately becomes so 
great, that the supporting one dies from the embrace of the parasite. 
“* There is another kind of wild fig-tree, with an enormous height 
and thickness of stem, to which the English residents give the name 
of Buttress-tree, from several large thin plates which stand out from 
the bottom of the trunk. They begin to jut out from the stem at the 
height of ten or twelve feet from the bottom, and gradually increase in 
breadth till they reach the ground, where they are connected with the 
large roots of the tree. At the surface of the ground these plates are 
often five feet broad, and throughout not more than a few inches thick. 
The various species of Laurus form fine trees; they flower in the 
months of April and May, at which season the atmosphere is loaded 
with the rich perfume of their small white blossoms. When their fruit 
is ripe, it forms the principal food of the Jacutinga (Penelope Jacutinga, 
Spix), a fine large game bird. The large Cassie have a striking 
appearance when in flower; and, as an almost equal number of large 
trees of Lasiandra Fontanesiana, and others of the Melastoma tribe, 
are in bloom at the same time, the forests are then almost one mass of 
yellow and purple from the abundance of these flowers. Rising amid 
these, the pink-coloured flowers of the Chorisia speciosa—a kind of 
silk cotton-tree—can be easily distinguished. It is also a large tree, 
with a stem covered with strong prickles, from five to eight feet in 
circumference, unbranched to the height of thirty or forty feet. The 
branches then form a nearly hemispherical top, which, when covered 
with its thousands of beautiful large rose-coloured blossoms, has a 
striking effect when contrasted with the masses of green, yellow, and 
purple of the surrounding trees. 
“* Many of these large trunks afford support to various species of 
climing and twining shrubs, belonging to the natural orders Bigno- 
niaceee, Composite, Apocynee, and Leguminosz, the stems of which 
frequently assume a very remarkable appearance. Several of them are 
often twisted together and dangle from the branches of the trees, like 
large ropes, while others are flat and compressed, like belts: of the 
latter description I have met with some six inches broad, and not more 
than an inch thick. ‘Two of the finest climbers are the beautiful large 
trumpet-flowered Solandra grandiflora, which, diffusing itself among the 
largest trees of the forest, gives them a magnificence not their own; 
and a showy species of Fuchsia (F. integrifolia, Cambess.), which is 
very common, attaching itself to all kinds of trees, often reaching to 
the height of from sixty to one hundred feet, and then falling down in 
the most beautiful festoons.”— Extracted from Mr. Gardner’s Travels 
in Brazil. 
ON CAMELLIAS. 
BY E. W. B, 
I Ave purchased some plants with flower-buds upon them, will they 
bloom well in a dining-room constantly in use, having a bow-window 
facing the east ? 
[ Yes, keep them where they will receive all light possible. Never 
