Tropical Tkees. 219 



tree is surrounded by strangers that seemingly prefer its 

 room to its company ; and, such is the struggle for posses- 

 sion of the soil, it is difficult to tell to which stem the dif- 

 ferent leaves and flowers belong. The peculiar charm of 

 a tropical forest is increased by the mystery of its impene- 

 trable thicket. Within that dense, matted shrubbery, and 

 behind that phalanx of trees, the imagination of the trav- 

 eler sees all manner of four-footed beasts and creeping 

 things. Tropical vegetation is of fresher verdure, more 

 luxuriant and succulent, and adorned with larger and more 

 shining leaves than the vegetation of the north. The leaves 

 are not shed periodically — a character common, not only to 

 the equator, but also to the whole southern hemisphere. 

 Yet there is a variety of tints, though not autumnal. The 

 leaves put on their best attire while budding instead of fall- 

 ing — passing, as they come to maturity, through different 

 shades of red, brown, and green. The majority of tropical 

 trees bear small flowers. The most conspicuous trees are 

 the palms, to which the prize of beauty has been given by 

 the concurrent voice of all asres. The earliest civilization 

 of mankind belonged to countries bordering on the region 

 of palms. South America, the continent of mingled heat 

 and moisture, excels the rest of the world in the number 

 and perfection of her palms. They are mostly of the 

 feathery and fan-like species; the latter are inferior in 

 rank to the former. The peculiarly majestic character of 

 the palm is given not only by their lofty stems, but also in 

 a very high degree by the form and arrangement of their 

 leaves. How diverse, yet equally graceful, are the aspiring 

 branches of the jagua and the drooping foliage of the 

 cocoa, the shuttlecock-shaped crowns of the ubussii and the 

 plumes of the jupati, forty feet in length. The inflores- 

 cence always springs from the top of the trunk, and the 

 male flowers are generally yellowish. Unlike the oak, all 



