ioo THE LACE-LEAF PLANT. 



duce might be grown for export, and prove a source of 

 immense wealth. Rice is already exported in some quantity, 

 and coffee is being grown to a considerable extent, and its 

 production is yearly increasing; but sugar, indigo, tobacco, 

 and spices might also be produced in quantities practically 

 inexhaustible. The valuable timber of the immense forests 

 is also certain at some future time to form an important item 

 in the exports of the country, and a careful scientific explo- 

 ration of the woods would doubtless bring to light other 

 vegetable products of commercial value. No such complete 

 investigation, however, has yet been made. Many years ago, 

 Sonnerat, a French naturalist, called Madagascar the land of 

 promise for the botanist, and Du Petit Thouars said that ten 

 years would not suffice to gain an adequate idea of the vege- 

 table treasures of the island ; but the jealousy of the native 

 government up to a very recent period, and the unhealthi- 

 aess of many parts of the country, have hitherto prevented 

 scientific botanists from attempting a thorough exploration 

 of the interminable woods. About forty or fifty years ago 

 Messrs. Bojer and Hilsenberg explored parts of the island, but 

 no complete or accessible record of their researches has been 

 published. M. Grandidier's great work on Madagascar, now 

 in progress, will probably do something to fill up the gap. 



The Zacc-leaf Plant. — This chapter may be concluded by 

 a description of a very interesting plant peculiar to Mada- 

 gascar, and which is called by Sir W. J. Hooker " one of the 

 most curious of nature's productions." This is the Lace-leaf 

 plant, or water-yam ; in scientific phraseology, Ouvirandra 

 fenestralis. This curious plant has an edible root, and grows 

 under water a foot or more deep ; from this spring a number 

 of graceful leaves, which spread out just under the surface. 

 These leaves are nine or ten inches long and a couple of 

 inches wide, and their structure is most remarkable, for the 

 whole leaf is like a living fibrous skeleton rather than an ordi- 

 nary leaf. The portions of the leaf between the veining are not 

 filled up, as in every other plant, but are open, so that the 

 whole is composed of fine tendrils in a regular pattern, so as 

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

 Mr. Ellis says, " It is scarcely possible to imagine any object 



