362 



ZONES AND REGIONS 



[Pt. Ill, Sect I 



Detmer, who saw the caatingas of the province of Bahia in September (tlie niunth 

 of passage from the dry to the rainy season), makes the following remarks : — 



' The dry soil consists of greyish-white loose sand. On it are growing every- 

 where thorny shrubs, for the most part quite leafless, and forming a dense 

 undergrowth, which is impenetrable in places and here and there is slightly 

 overtopped by isolated trees. Between the shrubs often grow a great number of 

 " mandacarus," trees of Cereus, 20 feet high, the massive stems of which, woody at 

 the base, give place above to a few thick 4-5 angled ramified branches, which are 

 studded with long thorns. The soil between the shrubs is covered by very large 



Fig. 19^. Thorn-bush on calcareous soil inMinas Geraes. Uvaria macrocarpa, Cereus coerulescens. 



After Warming. 



" gravattas " — terrestrial Bromeliaceae, with half-parched, sharp-edged leaves, 

 grouped in rosettes, above which their dried inflorescences project ; in addition 

 there are only a few other plants, some of which bear greyish-green, extremely 

 hairy leaves. Short palms with palmate or pinnate leaves are also plentiful.' 



Thoni-bush similar to that of the caatingas also appears in South Brazil 

 at Minas Geraes (Fig. 194). According to Liais and Warming, it is there 

 confined to rocky limestone hills, and differs from the neighbouring forests 

 by the much more complete defoliation, by the greater abundance of shrubs 



