BRAZILIAN REGIONS. 



33 



being never interrupted. In established clearings, grasses have be- 

 come abundant, as Paspalums and Panictims, in their general aspect 

 presenting nothing unusual. Various fresh-water marshes were almost 

 exclusively occupied by different species of Cyperus ; all bearing a 

 general resemblance to those growing in Northern Climates. A spe- 

 cies of Papyrus, subaquatic and of large size, was seen in one locality ; 

 and near at hand, a weak-stemmed slender Sderia, ascending full 

 thirty feet among the branches of trees. 



6. BromeliacecG. The splendid Bromelias were in vast variety and 

 abundance ; herbaceous plants, rendered conspicuous by a unique 

 and striking aspect, strangely diversified according to the species, 

 and by the brilliant tints of their floral leaves. Many of the spe- 

 cies were growing indiscriminately on the trunks and branches of 

 trees, on rocks, and on the ground. Other species, some of them of 

 almost giant size, seemed confined to trees, lifted high aloft upon the 

 branches, or crowding on the trunks : other species formed the under- 

 growth in the deepest and wettest portions of the forest : and others 

 again, covered projecting sunny rocks and the exposed banks fronting 

 the sea. Besides the floral leaves, more or less colored, the flowers in 

 many species are showy and ornamental, presenting an unusual va- 

 riety of hue, red, yellow, rose-colored, or blue, according to the spe- 

 cies. In short, it would be impossible to convey a just idea of the 

 aspect of the Brazilian Bromelias, without colored plates of the largest 

 size. — On the other hand, the Tillandsias proved strictly epidendric, 

 growing exclusively on the trunks and branches of trees ; and though 

 less conspicuous than the Bromelias, were abundant and in very con- 

 siderable variety, all of them more or less hoary, and many of the 

 species having ornamental flowers. 



Next in abundance after the above six Families of plants, were 

 thirteen other Families that seemed intermingled in the following 

 order of frequency : 



7. Leguminosce. Comparatively less abundant perhaps than in most 

 countries, and presenting no very marked peculiarities. Consisting of 

 various well-known genera of trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, and 

 vines, many of them bearing ornamental flowers. A purple-flowered 

 ErytJtrina, a small tree, was growing in various localities ; and the 

 young plant of another species proved remarkable for the size of its 

 leaves, the terminal leaflet measuring eighteen inches in its longest 

 diameter. The lofty Cccmlpuiia, conspicuous in the distant forest from 



