XY1 



Sllutftrattona of ^f)sta--(©e0srap5e» 



often met with in these forests. Those 

 here represented may be assumed as having 

 established, above the heads of other trees, 

 a connection with each other by means of 

 their branches, as is common in this kind 

 of plant throughout India, where entire 

 forests are formed, the stems of which are 

 connected. These latter are the far-famed 

 banyan-trees, regarded in some places, as 

 sacred. Among the wonderful phenomena 

 of the vegetable kingdom, as displayed in 

 the tropics, they occupy the foremost place. 

 The most striking peculiarity of these trees 

 is their aerial roots, which, springing from 

 the bark, grow downwards, often from a 

 considerable height, but as soon as they 

 touch the ground they enter it and form a 

 new stem. They also have, in a prominent 

 degree, a tendency to grow together as 

 soon as their different parts come in con- 

 tact with each other, by which is caused 

 that extremely fantastic shape generally 

 observed in these trees. The present spe- 

 cies differs from other kinds of banyan, 

 not only in its astonishing height (our 

 illustration shows only the lower parts of 

 the stems), but especially by its drooping 

 aerial roots. These roots, appearing in 

 bundles of tender, originally disconnected 

 fibres, gradually grow together, and, after 

 reaching the ground, increase in thickness. 

 The new stem thus formed soon loses, 

 more or less, all traces of its original for- 

 mation. The height of the whole is so 

 considerable that the crowns reach above 

 that of other trees, and here and there 

 form as it were a forest above a forest. 

 The spectator, standing below, soon loses 

 sight of the upper parts of the tree, and 

 only notices accidentally the connection 

 existing amongst trees which at first view 

 would seem to be perfectly unconnected. 

 It has been found impracticable to show in 

 our plate the foliage of this tree ; of the 

 crown little was visible, and the leaves are 

 small and of roundish shape. All the young 

 saplings growing about here are those of 

 the Barringtonia acutangula, which in 

 these woods assumes an epiphytal charac- 

 ter. [B. SJ 



VEGETATION OF THE CANARY IS- 

 LANDS-VIEW IN THE CALDERA. 



(Plate XI.) 



[REFERENCE. — a. Pistacia atlantica ; b. Juni- 

 perus Cedrus; c. Phcunix dactylifera; d. 

 Laurus indica ; ». Pinus canariensis.] 



The Canary Islands are covered with a 

 vegetation singularly characteristic of 

 their Reo?raphicalposition. It is neither 

 strictly tropical, nor typical of the tempe- 

 rate zone, but rather a blending of the 

 forms most peculiar to either. A singular 

 instance of this is presented to us in Webb's 

 view of the Caldera. Surrounded by steep 



perpendicular walls of rock 4,000 feet high, 

 that glen enjoys, like a garden conserva- 

 tory, a temperature always uniform, allow 

 ing plants from all heights to flourish in 

 company with each other— the Canarian 

 cedar (Juniperus Cedrus) from the most 

 elevated mountain ridge, and Kleimanerii- 

 foliu from the hot coast region. Here may 

 still be witnessed the strange phenomenon 

 of date-palms and pine-trees growing in 

 the same spot harmoniously together. Leo- 

 pold von Buch doubted the existence of 

 this vegetative harmony, which had been 

 mentioned by Viera, one of the earliest 

 writers on the Canaries. But the fact is 

 now placed beyond doubt by the united 

 testimony of Berthelot, Webb, and Bolle. 

 But the hand of man, even in this myste- 

 rious, almost inaccessible workshop of Na- 

 ture, the way to which leads through so 

 many dangers along yawning precipices, 

 has not spared the ' Fawns of the wilder- 

 ness' banished hither. It has allowed the 

 Are to accomplish what the axe was not 

 able to do. In September 1852, says Bolle, 

 there stood only, on one inaccessible rock 

 near the Barranco del Almendrero Amargo, 

 surrounded by pine-trees, one solitary wild 

 palm. Heine's conception of the longing 

 of the two trees, so beautifully expressed 

 in one of his elegies, had here found its 

 realisation. [B. S.] 



VEGETATION OF THE CINCHONA FO- 

 RESTS OF PERU, WITH PALMS AND 

 TREE-FERNS. 



(Plate XII.) 



The valley of San Juan del Oro represent- 

 ed in the accompanying engraving, is a 

 continuation of the ravine of Sandia, in 

 the Peruvian province of Caravaya. In 

 this province great spurs run out from 

 the main chain of the Cordillera, and gra- 

 dually subside into the vast plains, cover- 

 ed with virgin forest and traversed by na- 

 vigable rivers, which extend to the At- 

 lantic. These spurs form beautiful valleys, 

 such as that of San Juan del Oro, which 

 was once famous for its gold washings. 

 Here torrents and cascades pour down on 

 every side into the river flowing through 

 the valley, and the mountain-sides are 

 clothed with the richest subtropical vege- 

 tation. Here may be seen gigantic but- 

 tressed trees, festooned with creepers and 

 fringed with graceful ferns and orchids ; 

 here are tall tree-ferns, bright-flowering 

 melastomaceous shrubs, and numerous 

 species of palms. Among them are the 

 tall chorta, with its hard serviceable wood ; 

 the slender beautiful chiralla {Exderpe) ; 

 the towering muruna (Iriartea), with its 

 roots shooting out from eight feet above 

 the ground ; and an Astrocaryum with 

 thorny leaves, and a lofty stem thickly set 

 1 with alternate rings of spines. But the 



