356 A TEXT-BOOK OF BOTANY 



of bare forest or of forests just putting out leaves. Leaves 

 are continually being shed and formed, but the trees always 

 appear in full foliage. (2) The density of growth is remark- 

 able, resulting in a gigantic jungle, with plants at every 

 level, interlaced by great vines and covered by perching 

 plants. (3) Such forests display not only an immense num- 

 ber of individual plants, but also an extraordinary num- 

 ber of species. (4) The various devices for shedding the 

 abundant rain from the leaves give to them a very charac- 

 teristic appearance. Prominent among them are the gut- 

 ter-pointed leaves, the tip being prolonged as a sort of 

 spout and the veins depressed, the whole surface of the leaf 

 resembling a drainage system (Fig. 320). 



