144 FUNGI 



venerable appearance. Another common species is a branching 

 coral-like one, pale green above, with beautiful shades of brown 

 underneath. The rocks seen all over Imerina are sometimes 

 perfectly white with minute forms of lichen, but more frequently 

 present a mosaic of differently coloured species : black, white, 

 orange, russet and red. 



And the fungi again are quite as noticeable as the other 

 cryptogams, and their colours make them even more conspicu- 

 ous. On decaying timber, their circular and collar-like forms 

 and bright tints constantly strike one's attention. From one 

 inch to three or four inches in diameter these plants present 

 a great variety of colour ; pure white, pale buff edged with 

 brown, brilliant^ scarlet, orange, yellow, dark brown, etc. ; all 

 these are very common". Some fungi are hard and woody in 

 substance ; others are leathery and flexible, others soft and 

 gelatinous ; and occasionally one sees specimens a foot in 

 diameter, with delicate shades of browns and greys on their 

 upper surface. 



It may be easily imagined that with this wealth and variety 

 of cryptogamic forms many of the tree tnmks are a perfect 

 flora of the humbler kinds of vegetable growths ; for we haye 

 not mentioned the delicate hymenophyllum ferns which also 

 cover them in damp situations ; or the great hart's-tongue 

 ferns, which often occupy the forks of the branches ; or the 

 innumerable small bulbs of the orchids, which cling, by their 

 long aerial roots, to the trunks and boughs of the trees. 



In walking through the woods one sometimes becomes 

 conscious of a sickly sweet smell somewhere near us. This 

 proceeds from a hive of bees not very far away, generally in the 

 hollow of a tree. The honey, which is usually excellent, is 

 generally brought for sale to us in the comb by some of the 

 woodmen. Occasionally, however, it is somewhat bitter, 

 through being obtained from the flowers of certain trees or 

 plants. The Madagascar bee, known to entomologists as 

 Apis unicolor, differs but little in appearance from the English 

 species, although it is somewhat smaller, darker, and less 

 hardy. It chooses, if left to nature, the same kind of situation 

 for its hive, and multiplies in the same way. The drones also 

 are idle and are killed off at certain seasons. The Madagascar 

 insect is much more gentle when handled than the English one, 



