REVIEWS — THREE VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. 20T 



buried in the mud, retained its vitality, and wlien the water returned 

 fresh leaves burst forth. The natives spoke of it as tenacious of life, 

 and said that whenever the earth around even the smallest portion of 

 it remained moist, that portion would put forth leaves again when 

 covered with water. This plant is not only extremely curious, but 

 also very valuable to the natives, who at certain seasons of the year, 

 gather it as an article of food — the fleshy root, when cooked, yielding 

 a farinaceous substance resembling the yam. Hence its native name 

 ouvirandrano, literally, yam of the water, — ouvi, in the Malagasy and 

 Polynesian languages, signifying yam, and rano in the former signi- 

 fying water. The ouvirandra is not only a rare and curious, but a 

 singularly beautiful plant, both in structure and colour. From the 

 several crowns of the branching root growing often a foot or more 

 deep in the water, a number of graceful leaves, nine or ten inches 

 long, and two or three inches wide, spread out horizontally just be- 

 neath the surface of the water. The flower-stalks rise from the 

 centre of the leaves, and the branching or forked flower is curious ; 

 but the structure of the leaf is peculiarly so, and seems like a living 

 fibrous skeleton rather than an entire leaf. The longitudinal fibres 

 extend in curved lines along its entire length, and are united by 

 thread-like fibres or veins, crossing them at right angles, from side to- 

 side, at a short distance from each other. The whole leaf looks as if 

 composed of fine tendrils, wrought after a most regular pattern, so as 

 to resemble a piece of bright green lace, or open needlework. Each 

 leaf rises from the crown on the root like a short delicate-looking 

 pale green or yellow fibre, gradually unfolding its feathery-looking 

 sides, and increasing its size as it spreads beneath the water. The-^ 

 leaves in their several stages of growth pass through almost every 

 gradation of colour, from a pale yellow to a dark olive green, becom- 

 ing brown or even black before they finally decay ; air bubbles of 

 considerable size frequently appearing under the full-formed and 

 healthy leaves. It is scarcely possible to imagine any object of the 

 kind more attractive and beautiful than a full-grown specimen of this 

 plant, with its dark green leaves forming the limit of a circle two or 

 t^ree feet in diameter, and in the transparent water within that circle 

 presenting leaves in every stage of development, both as to color and 

 size. Nor is it the least curious to notice that these slender and fra- 

 gile structures, apparently not more substantial than the gossamer 

 and flexible as a feather, still possess a tenacity and wiriuess which 



