1 12 THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 
in these recesses, a shelter from the cruelty of the 
Spaniard. 
There are times, too, to every human heart, when 
solitude is welcome, and human sympathy can for awhile 
be dispensed with ; and then, to wander in the quiet and 
shady wood — to commune with God alone amidst the 
glory of his works — this is to experience the fulfilment of 
the wish of the Psalmist, when the aspirations of his 
weary spirit were, — “ O that I had wings like a dove, 
for then would I fly away, and be at rest: Lo, then would 
I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. 
Hanging in beautiful festoons about the venerable 
trees of the American forests, the various kinds of pas- 
sion-flower form an object of splendour which arrests 
the attention of the traveller. In this, their native soil, 
they are far larger than in our country, and very fra- 
grant, and their large starry blossoms hang down in pro- 
fusion among the branches, or clasp, by their strong 
tendrils, about the immense trunks of the trees. Of the 
most brilliant colours — blue, red, white, or purple — ^they 
contrast with their dark green leaves, and rival the other 
blossoms of forests, the beauty of whose floral ornaments 
is the greatest in the world. Many of the flowers which 
bloom there, almost unseen, are far beyond the reach 
of the traveller, and are known to us but by a very 
general and imperfect description; for, twining their 
leaves and stems together, it is impossible for the ob- 
server to regard them with any degree of accuracy. 
Of these immense forests of South America, Baron 
Humboldt has observed—'* It might be said that the 
earth, overloaded with plants, does not allow them space 
enough to unfold themselves. The trunks of the trees 
are everywhere concealed under a thick carpet of ver- 
dure; and if we carefully transplanted the Orchidea:, 
the pipers, and the pothos which a single American fig- 
tree nourishes, we should cover a vast extent of ground. 
The same lianas (or vines) which creep on the ground, 
reach the tops of the trees, and pass from one tree to 
another, at the height of more than a hundred feet. 
Thus by a continual interlacing of parasitic plants, the 
botanist is often led to confound the flowers, the fruits, 
and leaves which belong to different species. 
