122 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[August, 



THE BOTANIC GARDEN, PARA, BRAZIL. 



In former papers we have had occasion to 

 mention the Botanic Garden, which is situ- 

 ated on the Estrade of St. Jose, which, with 

 its long lines of Royal Palms, is one of the 

 finest streets of the city. It is just on the 

 boundary between the old and new parts of 

 Para, and, although most accessible — being 

 only a very short distance from the center of 

 the city, and one of the lines of horse-ears 

 passing the whole front — its situation is, in 

 other respects, most unfortunate. 



The city of Para, as previously men- 

 tioned, is on a slightly rising ground, at the 

 junction of the Para and Guama rivers, and 

 in its highest point is very little above tide- 

 water. In every direction are swamps, or 

 land which is under water at very high tides, 

 — when the water in the river is high, at the 

 time of the yearly Amazonian floods, or after 

 very heavy rains. The land near the junc- 

 tion of the two rivers we have mentioned is 

 especially low, and it is in this direction that 

 the wisdom of some fifty years, or more, ago 

 laid out the Botanic Garden. At each corner 

 of the large square — for it is of considerable 

 extent — a Miriti Palm was planted, and this 

 native of low delta lands alone justifies the 

 choice of the location, for very few other 

 trees have done as well as if the ground had 

 been higher. The Miritis are magnificent ; 

 the great fan-like leaves are of enormous 

 size, and the long bunches of maroon-colored 

 seeds add much to the interest of the tree. 

 The Assic Palms also find a congenial soil, 

 but this graceful species, which might lie 

 used to such advantage, is but poorly repre- 

 sented. 



The laying out and planting of the gar- 

 den was not badly done ; there is no stiff- 

 ness or formality, and the paths wind among 

 the trees, some of which are of large size. 

 But, in order to grow anything, all the beds 

 have to be raised, and during the rainy 

 season, or in high tides, the paths become 

 winding rivers, and are navigable for light 

 canoes. We have not seen this mode of 

 exploration adopted, but very often it would 

 be the easiest way of viewing the garden. 



Another great objection to the garden is 

 the millions of biting ants which, in some 

 parts, have honeycombed the soil, and which 

 cover the plants, so that one touching them 

 has good cause for repentance. This may 

 seem strange, as the ants of temperate cli- 

 mates do not usually live in wet localities ; 

 but tropical ants, though more plentiful in 

 sandy soils, do not seem to be especially 

 averse to water. 



Originally there were many rare plants 

 in the garden, but most have been killed 

 by the ants ; and now, with some few excep- 

 tions, the trees are such as are common to 

 the whole Amazonian delta. Some of these 

 exceptions we will briefly notice. A most 

 conspicuous feature is a very fine tree 

 of Bavenala Madayaxvuriaixte — the famous 

 "traveler's tree " of Madagascar — it is very 

 tall, and the great leaves spread like an im- 

 mense open fan. At the base of these leaves 

 the water collects, and keeps sweet and fresh ; 

 each leaf yields about a quart, which is ob- 

 tained by pressing the leaf-stalk. This tree 

 is not uncommon in gardens in Para, and is 



called the " Fan-Palm." The Bread-fruit 

 trees like a damp soil, and grow most luxu- 

 riantly, the deep -cut leaves attaining a 

 great size, although the tree itself is seldom 

 very large. 



A very showy tree, whether we regard the 

 fine, minosa-like foliage or the profusion 

 of reddish-yellow flowers, is Poirtciana regia, 

 but it has not the beauty of evergreen 

 foliage, as during the height of the dry 

 season it drops its leaves. The Rose Ap- 

 ples {Eugenia or Jambosa) are well repre- 

 sented, both by native and foreign species ; 

 they are showy from the deep, glossy ever- 

 green foliage, the large, white flowers with 

 hundreds of starry stamens, and the bright 

 fruit which in some species clusters all over 

 the tree, in bunches of waxy pink. Guavas 

 abound, and are always in flower and fruit, 

 but the tree has little beauty, although 

 the white flowers are pretty, and the fallen 

 fruit always rotting on the ground is not 

 attractive, even to butterflies ; in Para, only 

 negroes eat Guavas. 



There are some beautiful specimens of the 

 Screw-pine (Pandanus), which, with rigid, 

 glaucous leaves, present a great contrast to 

 all the surrounding foliage. The flowers 

 look like great spiral wreaths of feathery 

 white, and hang from the ends of the clus- 

 ters of leaves ; the fruit is very like, in gen- 

 eral appearance, a roundish, flattened pine 

 cone. 



In the middle of the garden is a pond ten- 

 anted by a huge alligator, which stares at 

 visitors with its glassy eyes, — a hideous, 

 clumsy, unattractive brute. Tins pond was, 

 a few years ago, very attractive, all the shal- 

 lows being full of that most lovely of aquat- 

 ics, Pontederia crassiju-s or Eicherria spedosa, 

 botanists having recently decided that the 

 plant is not a Pickerel-weed. And, indeed, 

 it is beautiful enough, with its long spikes 

 of delicate, blue flowers, to merit a dis- 

 tinctive name. Now not a plant is to be 

 found in the pond, the shallows are fes- 

 tering mud-banks, and every part is 

 choked with a coarse water-weed. For- 

 merly all around the pond were immense 

 masses of the bright Amaryllis fidgida, which 

 bloomed with wonderful profusion, now 

 very few plants are to be found. A list of the 

 trees would be of very little interest to the 

 general reader, as most have only botanical 

 names, but among the shrubs some are 

 worthy of notice. 



A bright scarlet Ixora forms very large 

 bushes, and is never out of bloom ; Cape Jas- 

 mines C Gardenia) and Tabernwmontanm are 

 large enough to sit under and are profuse in 

 flowers. 



Erythrinas grow very large and glow with 

 great spikes of Pea-shaped flowers. Meyeraa 

 erecta blooms all the year, forming bushes 

 about four feet in height, and the dark pur- 

 ple yellow-throated flowers are very beaii- 

 tiful ; the white variety, however, seems 

 to be unknown in Para. A species of Petrea, 

 with flowers which have a slight resemblance 

 to violets in form and color, is very showy 

 and bears great clusters of bloom. Of climb- 

 ers there are few; not a Bignonia or a Pas- 

 sion flower, all, if they ever existed, having 

 been killed by the water ; but near the west- 

 erly end of the pond, close to the main path, 

 is a specimen of Roujaetta grata, which is 

 worth a long walk to see. This rare and 

 beautiful climber, to flower which in a green- 

 house is a triumph, is here covering a large 



Mimosa tree ; its trunk is a foot in diameter 

 and its branches hang heavy with the rosy 

 white wax-Hke flowers which fill the whole air 

 with thefr delicious honey-like fragrance. Of 

 bulbs there are very few ; some great Crinums 

 send up flower-stalks as thick as one's arm, 

 and every night expand the great pink 

 flowers, and there is an allied plant with 

 glaucous leaves which has a crown of large, 

 Lily-like, pendant blossoms. Some of the 

 buds are masses of bright scarlet Heliconias, 

 which are ever blooming and attractive, both 

 in foliage and flower. 



A tall lupin-like plant, with long spikes of 

 bright yellow blossoms, is very conspicuous, 

 and reproduces itself from seed so freely that 

 it bids fair to take possession of the whole 

 garden. Dracwna terminalis and ferrea are 

 common, but they are rugged, unsightly 

 plants ; indeed, we have never seen in Para, 

 common as they are, a good specimen Dra- 

 caena. With a view to money, the lessees of 

 the garden have planted many of the dryer 

 beds with Pine-apples, and the effect is very 

 good. 



Hibiscus and Abutilons, which grow in the 

 tropics larger than Lilac bushes, or even 

 small trees, and are often used for hedges, 

 abound everywhere. We cannot undertake 

 to describe the brilliancy of the flowers or 

 the effect produced by plants with hundreds 

 of their immense blossoms all in bloom at a 

 time ; this we must leave to the imagination 

 of the reader. 



The glory of the garden, if glory there can 

 be where everything is neglected, is the 

 Caladiums, called here Tajas, and these, for 

 at least six months in the year, make the 

 garden brilliant. They are chiefly of two 

 kinds, C. bicolor and Cltantinii, but lack of 

 varieties is made up by quantity. There are 

 masses fifty feet in diameter and four feet 

 high, a blaze of color, and individual leaves 

 which one could use as an umbrella. In some 

 places it seems as if there were acres of them, 

 and the flowers, which often stand well up in 

 the foliage, are very large and pure white. 



I was once told by a Brazilian that the 

 Botanic Garden had nothing but Tajas, and, 

 indeed, at times it seems so. Yet much of 

 interest has escaped the neglect of the city 

 council, and the garden is well worth a visit. 



A word in conclusion. For years no money 

 has been appropriated for the garden, and 

 perhaps with good reason, for anything short 

 of an enormous expenditure would fail to 

 redeem the location. 



But at least one disgrace to the city of 

 Para could have been saved. A small annual 

 expenditure would have left the garden as it 

 is in order. Instead of this, however, the 

 city, a few years ago, leased the place for five 

 years, ata rent of two hundred milreis (about 

 eighty-five dollars) yearly. The lessee built 

 a dance-house and inaugurated a series of 

 balls for classes of not the best reputation ; 

 then the police interfered and a tax was im- 

 posed which used up the profits of the dance 

 and effected the object of their discontinu- 

 ance, except on great feast days. 



Since then the lessee has converted all 

 available portions of the land into a vegetable 

 garden and grows loug rows of spindling 

 Cabbage leaves and tall Okra. This is not 

 reprehensible, but the practice of selling any 

 plants, which he also freely indulges, threat- 

 ens to divest the garden of the little, not too 

 large to move, which remains of any value. 



Edward S. Rand, Jr. 



