Baobab Trees at Manaar. 



CHAPTER XL 



GIANT TREES AND CHARACTERISTIC FORMS OF TROPICAL VEGETATION. 



General I'oinarks — The Baobab — Used as a Vegetable Cistern — Arborescent 

 Euphorbias — The Dracaena of Orotava — The Sycamore — The Banyan — The 

 sacred Bo-Tree of Anarajapoora — The Teak Tree — The Saul — The Sandal 

 Tree— The Satmwood Tree— The Ceiba — The Mahogany Tree— The Mora- 

 Bamboos — The Guadua — Beauty and multifarious Uses of these colossal 

 Grasses — Firing the Jungle — The Aloes — The Agave americana — The 

 Bromelias — The Cactuses — The Mimosas — Bushropes — Climbing Trees — 

 Emblems of Ingratitude — Marriage of the Fig Tree and the Palm — Epiphytes — 

 Water-Plants — Singularly-shaped Trees — The Barrigudo — The Bottle Tree — 

 Trees with Buttresses, fantastical Boots, and formidable Spines. 



WHEREVER in the tropical regions periodical rains sa- 

 turate the earth, vegetable life expands in a wonderful 

 variety of forms. In the higher latitudes of the frozen 

 north, a rapidly evanescent summer produces but few and rare 

 flowers in sheltered situations, soon again to disappear under 

 the winter's snow; in the temperate zones, the number, 

 beauty, and variety of plants increase with the warmth of a 

 genial sky ; but it is only where the vertical rays of an equa- 

 torial sun awaken and foster life on humid grounds that ever- 

 youthful Flora appears in the full exuberance of her creative 

 power. It is only there we find the majestic palms, the elegant 



H 3 



