98 



fnl 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. At the foot of the moun- 

 tains the underwood principally consists of shrubs belonging to the 

 natural orders Melastomacese, Myrtacese, Composite, Solanaceae and 

 Rubiaceae, among which are many large species of herbaceous ferns 

 and a few palms. About the middle palms and tree-ferns abound, 

 some of the latter reaching to a height of not less than forty feet. 

 These trees are so very unlike every other denizen of the forest, so 

 strange in appearance, yet so graceful, that they have always attracted 

 my attention more than any other, not even excepting the palms. 

 At an elevation of about 2,000 feet, a large species of bamboo (Bam- 

 busa Tagoai'a, Mart.) makes its appearance. The stems of this gi- 

 gantic grass are often eighteen inches in circumference, and attain a 

 height of from fifty to one hundred feet. They do not, however, 

 grow perfectly upright, their tips forming a graceful curve downwards. 

 Throughout the whole distance the path was lined on each side with 

 the most beautiful herbaceous plants and delicate ferns." — pp. 42-46. 



Notice of ' The Cryptogamic Vasculares of Rhenish Prussia. By 

 Ph. Wirtgen. Bonn, 1847.' 



This unpretending little pamphlet is a valuable and agreeable ad- 

 dition to the fern -literature of Europe : the species are enumerated, 

 with brief characters and a copious list of localities to each, occasionally 

 interspersed with remarks, some of which we shall extract. 



Equisetum arvense. 



Telmateia—Q.\ivia,ti\e of Smith, Hooker, &c. 



sylvaticum. 



ww5r0^m==Drummondii of Hooker, &c. 



palustre. 



limosum. 



hyemale. 



ramosum. 



Pilularia glohdifera. 



Lycopodium Selago. 



