432 THE MEXICAN FLORA. 



Thuya of pyramidal outline. Nor must I forget to name, among the 

 Conifers of this continent, the Cypress of Louisiana, a tree of hand- 

 some appearance, about 100 feet high and 12 to 15 feet in circum- 

 ference, which lives, it is said, 5500 to 6000 years. Its leaves are 

 shrunken like those of the larch ; and from its roots, somewhat 

 deeply buried, spring several protuberances, or rounded conical 

 exostoses, which sometimes grow to the height of three feet without 

 bourgeoning. 



The forests of the West and of the South which have hitherto 

 escaped the torch and the axe of the pioneer present to the traveller's 

 admiring gaze those magnificent species described so eloquently by 

 Chateaubriand and Cooper, and which are even less remarkable for 

 their gigantic stature than for the majestic elegance of their port, the 

 beauty of their foliage, and the dazzling splendour of their flowers. 

 Some of these forests are partly formed of Oaks whose leaves assume 

 in autumn a purple tint, like the " pupureum lumen " of the Latin 

 poet. In others the dominant trees are the Plane of the West, the 

 Maple, the round-crested Tulip, the large-leaved Catalpa, the Magnolia 

 with white and scented blossoms. To their trunks clings a whole 

 world of climbing, creeping, and parasitic plants ; as the Virgin Vine, 

 the Sumach, and the Virginian Jasmine. 



Mexico, as far as relates to its climate and productions, has been 

 divided into three distinctly marked regions, defined not by latitude, 

 but by the elevation of various portions of its territory. The upper 

 region, or Cold Lands, is that of the lofty mountains ; the mean 

 region, or Temperate Lftnds, that of the intermediate plateaus ; the 

 inferior region, or Hot Lands, is that of the low plains, sometimes 

 arid, sometimes marshy or wooded. 



The arborescent Flora of the first two regions very nearly 

 approximates to that of our noi-thern countries; it principally consists 

 of Pines, Firs, Oaks, and Arbute Trees. But in the Hot Lands the 

 vegetation generally assumes, as we descend towards the south, all 

 the characteristics of the tropical Flora. The feathery and graceful 

 Palm trees re-appear, mingled with Coryphas, Oreodoxas, Malpighiaceite, 



