82 SPINY AND PRICKLY PLANTS. 



stand out conspicuous above the houses and are visible far 

 over the plains. Perhaps the finest specimen in Imerina is 

 to be found at the ancient town of Ambohidratrimo, where it 

 rises like a great dome of foliage above the other trees, and 

 has a trunk about eighteen feet in girth. The amdntana is 

 remarkable for its vitality, a dry and apparently lifeless stick 

 of the tree rapidly taking root if stuck in the ground. 



Perhaps the most conspicuous tree now to be seen in and 

 around the capital is the Cape lilac, which was introduced by 

 missionaries from the Cape of Good Hope about fifty years 

 ago. Of this tree the Eev. E. Baron says : " I believe it to 

 be the Melia Azederach, and not a lilac. Its strong scent is 

 similar to that of the lilacs, and hence, probably, it has been 

 supposed to be one of them. All its parts contain bitter and 

 purgative properties." It has been extensively planted in 

 Imerina, and grows very rapidly. 



Growing among these hard-wooded trees is often found 

 the tall straight stem of the amiana {Urtica fiLrialis), a tree 

 bearing a large velvety leaf which stings like a nettle when 

 touched. The leaf, although so unpleasant to one of the 

 senses, is beautiful in outline, being deeply cut and indented, 

 and would in au artist's hand serve admirably for decorative 

 purposes. The largest leaves are found on the youngest and 

 lowest trees, one specimen I found measuring about thirty 

 inches each way. The wood is soft and spongy, and of no 

 service at all in building. 



Another attractive tree is the zdJiana {Bignonia articu- 

 lata), which grows to a considerable size in some places, and, 

 as its name implies, has a curiously- articulated leaf, look- 

 ing as if two or three leaves were joined together, base to 

 point. Examples have been found with eight divisions of the 

 leaf 



Spiny and Pricldy Plants. — Like most tropical countries, 

 Madagascar is tolerably prolific in spiny and prickly plants. 

 One of these, a dwarf mimosa-like tree, of straggling creeping 

 habit, and full of hook-like thorns, is called tsidfahdmhj, i.e., 

 " not passable by oxen," from its being extensively used to 

 form fences and folds for the numerous herds of humped 

 cattle. It belongs to the Leguminoscc, and has yellow 



