1848.] 
SENSITIVE PLANTS. 
11 
are abundant on the skirts of the forest, and are of va- 
rious colours, — purple, scarlet, or pale pink : the purple 
ones have an exquisite perfume, and they all produce an 
agreeable fruit — the grenadilla of the West Indies. There 
are besides many other elegant flowers, and numbers of 
less conspicuous ones. The papilionaceous flowers, or 
peas, are common ; cassias are very numerous, some 
being mere weeds, others handsome trees, having a pro- 
fusion of bright yellow blossoms. Then there are the 
curious sensitive plants {Mimosa), looked upon with such 
interest in om? greenhouses, but which here abound as 
common wayside weeds. Most of them have purple or 
white globular heads of flowers. Some are very sensi- 
tive, a gentle touch causing many leaves to drop and 
fold up ; others require a ruder hand to make them ex- 
hibit their peculiar properties ; while others again will 
scarcely show any signs of feeling, though ever so roughly 
treated. They are all more or less armed with sharp 
prickles, which may partly answer the purpose of guard- 
ing their delicate frames from some of the numerous 
shocks they would otherwise receive. 
The immense number of orange-trees about* the city 
is an interesting feature, and renders that delicious fruit 
always abundant and cheap. Many of the public roads 
are lined with them, and every garden is well stocked, 
so that the cost is merely the trouble of gathering and 
taking to market. The mango is also abundant, and in 
some of the public avenues is planted alternately with 
the Mangabeira, or silk cotton-tree, which grows to a 
great size, though, as its leaves are deciduous, it is not so 
well adapted to produce the shade so much required as 
