404 NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
self-standing bushy trees, but still have the same 
slender geniculate branches. 
The pretty Gentianeous shrubs of the genus 
Tachia have long, slender, hollowed branches, that 
either hang down or support themselves on the 
branches of adjoining shrubs and trees ; [yet 
although this character is (as I suppose) an un- 
doubted inheritance of the effects of ant -agency, 
it is singular that Tachias are nowadays often found 
entirely free from ants ; while the name, taken by 
Aublet from the Tupi' language, distinctly implies 
that in his day they were notoriously ant-infested.] 
The genus Tachigalia, spoken of above, also doubt- 
less owed its name to the same peculiarity, which 
it still enjoys unabated. Aublet tells us he got 
these and other Tupi names from a colony of 
Indians from Para, who had crossed the Amazon 
and established themselves in Cayenne. 
Some Mabeas are still more remarkable, the 
long sarmentose branches stretching away to a 
great length among the adjacent vegetation, 
although never actually twining. All Mabeas of 
the section Taquari have this habit, and all are 
infested by Tachi ants. The slender but tough 
twigs, hollowed and polished interiorly by ants, are 
a favourite material for tobacco-pipes with the 
Indians of the Amazon, who strip off the bark and 
paint and varnish the surface of the wood. These 
'^Taquaris," as they are called, are commonly sold 
in the shops at Para. A bundle of them which 
I purchased there is now in the Kew Museum. 
The arborescent Mabeas, however, with tall erect 
trunks and paniculate inflorescence, are apparently 
never touched by ants. 
