APPEND.] 



EMBIRA BRANCA. 



361 



Embira Branca or Jangadeira, Apeiba Cimbalaria: 



— Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern. 



Class, Poliandria. Order, Monogynia. 



Gen. Char. Calyx, monophyllous, trifid; Pericarp 

 a decem-1 ocular capsule, covered with thorns or spines, 

 depressed, opening only on the lower side. 



Spec. Char. Stem of 20 to 30 feet long, and of one foot 

 and a half in diameter. c 



Leaves ovate, lanceolate, cordate, reticulate, green 

 and smooth above, covered with hairs, which are of a 

 copper colour underneath. Stamina monadelphic. The 

 plant is to be found in Pernambuco, abounding in the 

 virgin woods. It blossoms from August to October. 



The timber of this tree is not compact, and its specific 

 gravity is much less than that of water, with which it does 

 not easily become saturated. The inhabitants of the 

 coast make use of it for the purpose of constructing 

 rafts ; three or four of these trees are put together, and 

 are well fastened to each other. * The bark of the tree 

 is fibrous, and from it a great quantity of cordage is 

 made for the common purposes of the country. 



Marcgraff calls it Apeiba ; and Aublet adopted the 

 same name when he fixed the genus of the three species 

 which he describes in Guiana, and he supposes that the 

 species tibourbu is the same as that which Marcgraff speaks 

 of in Pernambuco ; they are certainly alike, but I ima- 

 gine that it must be a variety, from the size of the tree, 

 which only grows there to the height of eight feet, and 

 here it exceeds 20 feet. There is less hair upon the 

 leaves, the silky work of the edges is not so deep; and 

 there is even some difference in the shape ; the stamina 



* I have often in the course of this volume spoken of the jangadas. 

 - Transl. 



