28 NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
they are called Tururi, and are afforded by various 
figs and Artocarps. I shall have occasion to describe 
the uses of Tururi when I come to treat of Indian 
life in the far interior. 
Lianas 
Of all lianas, rope-plants, or sipos (as they are 
called in Tupi), the most fantastic are the Yaboti'm- 
mita-mita or Land-turtle's ladders, which have 
compressed, ribbon-like stems, wavy as if they had 
been moulded out of paste, and while still soft 
indented at every few inches by pressing in the 
fist. They are usually not more than three or four 
inches broad, but I have sometimes seen them as 
much as 1 2 inches ; and they reach two or even three 
hundred feet in length, climbing to the tree-tops, 
passing from one tree to another, and often descend- 
ing again to the ground. They belong to Schnella, 
a genus of Leguminosae, and are found all through 
the Amazon valley. The commonest species near 
Para is Schnella splendens, Benth. 
Lianas of the family of Bignoniaceae may gener- 
ally be recognised by their four- (rarely six-) angled 
stems, the angles being usually obtuse, but some- 
times sharp-edged or even winged. At intervals 
of a few feet the stems have swollen joints, ancient 
leaf-scars. One of the most gorgeous sights I ever 
saw was, where a gap having been made in the 
forest by cutting down some trees, a Bignonia 
with several parallel stems, which had run lightly 
over their tops, was left suspended between two 
lofty trees, 40 yards apart, in a graceful catenary, 
clad throughout its length by roseate foxglove-like 
