54 THE LACE PLANT 



more strictly speaking, like a skeleton leaf, the spaces between 

 the veining being open. The veining is something like that of 

 a lily leaf, the longitudinal fibre running through the whole 

 length, and crossed at very regular intervals by the transverse 

 veins, which are of thread-like fineness. The specific name, 

 Jenestralis (" windowed "), conveys this idea of a regular 

 arrangement of structure. The leaf stalk varies in length with 

 the depth of the water, always keeping a little below the 

 surface. Each plant has ten or a dozen leaves branching from 

 the root, which in the specimens brought to me resembled a 

 small potato. It can be eaten, as its taste is like the farinaceous 

 yam, common to most tropical countries ; and from this like- 

 ness the generic name, ouvirandra, is derived ouvy or bvy being 

 the native word for yam. The plant grows in running water and 

 thrives best in warm situations. The flower grows on a long 

 stalk and rises a little above the surface of the water ; it is of 

 a pinkish colour, dividing into two curved hairy tufts. Few 

 objects can be imagined more beautiful or interesting for 

 cultivating in an aquarium than this lace-leaf plant, which Sir 

 W. J. Hooker termed " one of the most curious of nature's 

 vegetable productions." It is an endogenous plant, included 

 in the order Juncaginacece, to which the arrow-grasses and the 

 rushes belong ; it is found not only in the eastern region, but 

 occurs in streams near the upper belt of forest in the interior. 

 It is said to be very tenacious of life, retaining its vitality even 

 if the stream where it grows is dried up ; the leaves in their 

 various stages of growth pass through a gradation of colour, 

 from a pale yellow to a dark olive-green. When full grown, its 

 dark green leaves form the limit of a circle two or three feet in 

 diameter. 



Taking a walk round the village before it was dark, I noticed 

 several houses raised on posts five or six feet above the ground. 

 At the top of each post, just under the floor, was a projecting 

 circle of wood a foot or more in diameter and polished very 

 smooth. I found that these buildings were granaries, and were 

 raised in this way to protect the rice from rats, which are a 

 great annoyance in most parts of the country. The smooth 

 ring of wood effectually prevented them from getting any 

 farther than the top of the upright posts. The ladder for 

 getting up to these granaries is a very primitive contrivance ; it 



