240 PHYSIOGNOMY OP PLANTS. 



by others with more probability, at the foot of the Himalaya. Gre- 

 cian fables named the fields of Enna as the happy native land of the 

 cereals; and if in northern climes, where corn is cultivated in im- 

 mense unbroken fields, their monotonous aspect adds but little to 

 the beauty of the landscape, the inhabitant of the tropics, on the 

 other hand, in rearing groves of plantains wherever he fixes his 

 habitation, contributes to the adornment of the earth's surface by 

 the extension of one of the most noble and beautiful forms of the 

 vegetable world. 



The form of Malvaceae (* 7 ) and Bombacese, represented by Ceiba, 

 Cavanillesia, and the Mexican hand-tree Cheirostemon, has enor- 

 mously thick trunks ; large, soft, woolly leaves, either heart-shaped 

 or indented ; and superb flowers frequently of a purple or crimson 

 hue. It is to this group of plants that the Baobab, or monkey 

 bread-tree (Adansonia digitata) belongs, which, with a very mode- 

 rate elevation, has a diameter of 32 English feet, and is probably 

 the largest and most ancient organic monument on our planet. In 

 Italy, the Malvaceae already begin to impart to the vegetation a 

 peculiar southern character. 



The delicately pinnated foliage of the Mimosa form, ( ls ) of which 

 Acacia, Desmanthus, Grleditschia, Porleria, and Tamarindus are im- 

 portant members, is entirely wanting in our temperate zone in the 

 Old Continent, though found in the United States, where, in corre- 

 sponding latitudes, vegetation is more varied and more vigorous than 

 in Europe. The umbrella-like arrangement of the branches, resem- 

 bling that seen in the stone pine of Italy, is very frequent among 

 the Mimosas. The deep blue of the tropic sky, seen through their 

 finely divided foliage, has an extremely picturesque effect. 



The Heath form ( 19 ) belongs more especially to the Old World, and 

 particularly to the African continent and islands; taking for our 

 guides physiognomic character and general aspect, we may class 

 under it the Epaerideae and Diosrneae, many Proteaceae, and those 

 Australian Acacias which have mere leaf-stalks instead of leaves 

 (phyllodias). This form has some points of similarity with that of 

 needle trees, and the partial resemblance enhances the effect of the 

 pleasing contrast which, when these two are placed together, is 

 afforded by the abundant bell-shaped blossoms of the heaths. Arbo- 



