with
a kind of wild fig, called by the Brazilians, Cipo Matador. It runs up
the tree to which it has attached itself, and at the distance of about
every ten feet throws out from each side a thick clasper, which curves
round, and closely entwines the other stem. As both the trees increase
in size, the pressure ultimately becomes so great, that the supporting
one dies from the embrace of the parasite.
There
is another kind of wild fig-tree, with an enormous height and thickness
of stem, to which the English residents give the name of Buttress-tree,
from several large thin plates which stand out from the bottom of the
trunk. They begin to jut out from the stem at the height of ten or
twelve feet from the bottom, and gradually increase in breadth till
they reach the ground, where they are connected with the large roots of
the tree. At the surface of the ground these plates are often five feet
broad, and throughout not more than a few inches thick. The various
species of Lauras form fine trees; they flower in the months of
April and May, at which season the atmosphere is loaded with the rich
perfume of their small white blossoms. When their fruit is ripe, it
forms the principal food of the Jacutinga {Penelope Jacutinga, Spix), a fine large game bird. The large Cassia have a striking appearance when in flower; and, as an almost equal number of large trees of Lasiaudra Fonianesiaua, and others of the Mela-storna tribe,
are in bloom at the same time, the forests are then almost one mass of
yellow and purple from the abundance of these flowers. Rising amid
these, the pink-coloured flowers of the Chorisia speciosa—a
kind of silk cotton-tree—can be easily distinguished. It is also a
large tree, with a stem, covered with strong prickles, from five to
eight feet in circumference unbranched to the height of thirty or forty
feet. The branches then form a nearly hemispherical top, which, when
covered with its thousands of beautiful large rose-coloured blossoms,
has a striking effect when contrasted with the masses of green, yellow,
and purple of the surrounding trees.
Many of these large trunks afford support to various species of climbing and twining shrubs, belonging to the natural orders
D
