NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



679 



(Theobroma) , balsa (Ochroma), silk cot- 

 ton (Eriodendron) , Bixa, Anacardium, 

 Spondias, Genipa, Tecoma, Panama 

 hat plant (Carludovica), guavas (Psi- 

 dium) and Victoria regia are widely 

 distributed and common. Families par- 

 ticularly conspicuously represented in 

 tree form other than the palms are the 

 laurels, myrtles, Bignoniaceae, Sola- 

 naceae, Sapotaceae, Bombacaceae, Me- 

 liaceae and Papilionaceae. The Big- 

 noniaceae are markedly the glory of the 

 American tropics, representatives of 

 fhem either as vines or trees furnishing 

 the most striking and varied color 

 effects. Other trees or vines producing 

 effective color spots in the monotonous 

 green wall when in bloom are Petrea, 

 Bougainvillea, Erythrina, Triplaris, 

 "aceituna" (Vitex), Calliandra, and 

 numerous Malpighiaceous vines. Typi- 

 cal varzea trees are the cannon-ball 

 tree (Couroupita), Ceiba, Guarea tri- 

 chilioides, Hura crepitans, Andripetalum, 

 Ficus, Ochroma, Tessaria and Hevea. 

 Cacao, Brazil nut, and various Rubiads 

 are typical of the higher ground. Palms 

 are not a striking element of the river 

 scenery in any portion of the upper 

 basin, i.e., above the entrance of the 

 Madeira, but on the lower river they 

 are very conspicuous, forming great 

 thickets. 



The Acanthaceae and Selaginellas 

 often carpet the forest floor for miles, 

 while various species of Heliconia, 

 especially in low, swampy areas, produce 

 vivid tropical effects with their enor- 

 mous banana-like leaves and bright red 

 and yellow inflorescences. Meibomias 

 also form extensive carpets on the 

 sandy river flats beneath the willow- 

 like Tessaria thickets. 



Most of the animal life of the forested 

 region is found close to the streams, 

 much of it living in the huge canebrakes 

 (Gynerium) or just back of them. 

 Various species of monkeys (Mycetes, 

 Ateles, Hopale, Midas, Lagothrix, Nycti- 

 pithecus) are common below 3000 ft. 

 Other generally distributed Amazonian 

 animals of this level are the tapir (Tapi- 

 rus), jaguar, ocelot (Felis pardalis), 



peccary (Dicotyles), Irara or mielero 

 (Galictus), puma (Felis concolor), capy- 

 bara (Hydrochoerus), coati-mondi 

 (Nasua), opossum, sloth (Brady pus, 

 Cycloturus), paca (Coelogenys paca), 

 agouti (Vasiprozta) , deer (Cervus, Coas- 

 sus), manatee (Manatus), and the 

 vampire bats (Andira and Phyllostoma) . 

 Typically widely distributed birds are 

 represented by the "perdis" (Tinamus), 

 parrots, toucans, macaws (Ara), orioles 

 (Icterus, Cassicus), eagles, vultures, 

 hoatzins (Opisthocomus) , mutum (Crax), 

 jacanas (Penelope), egrets (Ardea), 

 scarlet ibis (Ibis), anhingas (Plotus), 

 ducks (Cairina and Sterna). The com- 

 mon turtle is Podocnemis. The swamps, 

 sluggish streams and lakes usually 

 contain one or more species of cayman 

 (Caiman). The rivers and lakes present 

 a marvellously diversified fish fauna, 

 among them giant catfish, the pirarucii 

 (Sudis) and species of the blood-thirsty 

 piranha (Serrasalmo) in white, black 

 and red colors. Electric eels (Gymnotus) 

 are not uncommon in certain regions in 

 half covered forest pools. The snakes, 

 relatively speaking, are not numerous, 

 but representatives of both the poison 

 groups occur (Lachesis, Crotalus, Co- 

 phias, Elaps). The constrictors (Eunec- 

 tes, Epicrates) reach huge proportions, 

 anacondas of over 20 ft. length not being 

 uncommon. Fresh water dolphins 

 (Steno, Inia) disport themselves in 

 small schools throughout the Brazilian 

 Amazon basin. 



The "campos" regions are typically 

 represented by such plant genera as 

 Curatella, Hymenaea, Genipa, Copaifera, 

 Piptadenia, Bauhinia, Zamia, Smilax, 

 Sporobolus and Andropogon. Ground 

 orchids are common (Sobralia, Cyrto- 

 podium). The slow moving streams 

 are covered with floating vegetation 

 (Azolla, Salvinia, Pistia (water lettuce), 

 water lilies and enormous stretches of 

 water hyacinth (Eichornia)) . Acres of 

 yellow cannas abound in the marshes 

 between the Rio Beni and the Mamore 

 rivers. Malvaceae and Gesneraceae are 

 well represented. Palms, cacti, portu- 

 laca, bromeliads, epiphytic orchids are 



