138 
a growth of Pontederia, Alisma, Sagiitaria and similar plants, 
then sedges and, at the very water’s edge, Heliconias in great 
i h i vi 
Vv: y- y 
interesting feature of the river flora. r great oval leaves 
are about as large as a man, and stand i looking at 
a distance like a rank of soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder 
upon the shore. Their inflorescences are brilliant combinations 
of yellow, blue and red. Many are erect or ascending, while 
others, a yard or more in length, are wavy, pendulous racemes. 
Next comes shrubbery aud eel trees in seo vanely tie 
are all d 
th 
ly J hert 1 T i famili ate 
famili 1 h teristic of tain localities. 
ng the Beni and upper Madeira, Sapindaceae, pe ane 
Passifloraceae, Cucurbitaceae d nvolvulaceae a: 
prominent. Qn er Orinoco, Bignoniaceae, in con- 
fusing numbers of genera and species, obscure all others, and are 
wonton Paueul fsa in some places a wall of flowers. 
ropias, the ‘“‘ambaibas”’ of the natives, 
their whitish trunks, a with a few branches at the top, being 
conspicuous. This genus is closely related to the fig and 
ui 
bore two blisters each about as large as a kidney bean. “These 
