2^2 ■ TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



of the mellifluous paullinias, of the burniug dale- 

 cbampias and the bauhinia with its strangely lo- 

 bated leaves* ; strings of the leafless milky bindweed 

 (Lianes), which descend from the highest summits 

 of the trees, or closely twine round the strongest 

 trunks and gradually kill them : lastly, those para- 

 sitical plants, by which old trees are invested wdth 

 the garment of youth ; the grotesque species of 

 the potbos and arum, the superb flowers of the 

 orchideaet, the bromelias which catch the rain- 

 water, the tillandsia t hanging down like Lichen 

 pulmonarius, and a multiplicity of strangely formed 

 ferns § : all these admirable productions of so 

 young a soil, combine to form a scene which alter- 

 nately fills the European naturalist with delight 

 and astonishment. 



When we here attempt to sketch a picture of 

 the inteiior of a tropical forest, we must not forget 



* Mikania stipulacea Vhl., viscosa Spr., opifera nob. (Eupa- 

 tor crenatum Gom) ; Bignonia venusta Ker. ; Paullinia pinnata, 

 Cururu L., meliaefolia, thalictrifolia Juss. ; Dalechampia brasili- 

 ensis, ficifolia, pentaphylla, triphylla, convolvuloides Lam. ; 

 Bauhinia gujanensis Lam., aculeata L. 



f Pothos crassinervia, digitata Jacq., macrophylla Sw., pal- 

 mata L. ; Caladium lacerum, pinnatifidum, grandifolium Jacq. ; 

 Oncidium barbatura, pictum Humb.; lonopsis pulchella Hunib. ; 

 Neottia speciosa Sw. 



:|: Bromelia Pinguin, Karatas, Acanga, iridifolia Nees et M. ; 

 Tillandsia usneoides L. 



§ Acrostiehum calomelanos ; Polypodium percussum Cav., 

 submarginale, yaceinifolium Fisch. ; Aspidium exaltatum Sw. ; 

 Pteris pedata L. 



