30 PHYSIOGNOMY OF PLANTS. 



the thick and rough bark of the Crescentias and the 

 Gustavia. ( 35 ) In the midst of this profusion of flowers 

 and fruits, and in the luxuriant intertwinings of the climbing 

 plants, the naturalist often finds it difficult to discover to which 

 stem the different leaves and flowers really belong. A single 

 tree adorned with Paullinias, Bignonias, and Dendrobium, 

 forms a group of plants which, if disentangled and sepa- 

 rated from each other, would cover a considerable space of 

 ground. 



In the tropics vegetation is generally of a fresher verdure, 

 more luxuriant and succulent, and adorned with larger and 

 more shining leaves than in our northern climates. The 

 " social" plants, which often impart so uniform and mono- 

 tonous a character to European countries, are almost entirely 

 absent in the Equatorial regions. Trees almost as lofty as 

 our oaks are adorned with flowers as large and as beautiful 

 as our lilies. On the shady banks of the Bio Magdalena in 

 South America, there grows a climbing Aristolochia bearing 

 flowers four feet in circumference, which the Indian boys 

 draw over their heads in sport, and wear as hats or helmets. ( 36 ) 

 In the islands of the Indian Archipelago the flower of the 

 Kafflesia is nearly three feet in diameter, and weighs above 

 fourteen pounds. 



The great elevation attained in several tropical countries 

 not only by single mountains but even by extensive districts, 

 enables the inhabitants of the torrid zone surrounded by 

 palms, bananas, and the other beautiful forms proper to 

 those latitudes to behold also those vegetable forms which, 

 demanding a cooler temperature, would seem to belong to 



