Bignoniacece, Composita, Apocynem, and Leguminosa, the
stems of which frequently assume a very remarkable appearance. Several
of them are often twisted together and dangle from the branches of the
trees, like large ropes, while others are flat and compressed, like
belts: of the latter description I have met with some six inches broad,
and not more than an inch thick. Two of the finest climbers are the
beautiful large trumpet-flowered Solandra grand/flora, which,
diffusing itself among the largest trees of the forest, gives them a
magnificence not their own; and a showy species of Fuchsia (F. integrifolia, Cambess.),*
which is very common, attaching itself to all kinds of trees, often
reaching to the height of from sixty to one hundred feet, and then
falling down in the most beautiful festoons.
At the foot of the mountains the underwoood principally consists of shrubs belonging to the natural orders Melastomacea, Myrtacea, Composites, Solanacece, and Bmhiacece, among which are many
large species of herbaceous ferns, and a few palms. About the middle,
palms and tree ferns abound, some of the latter reaching to the height
of not less than forty feet. These trees are so unlike every other
denizen of the forest, so strange in appearance, yet so graceful, that
they have always attracted my attention more than any other, not even
excepting the palms. At an elevation of about 2,000 feet, a large
species of bamboo [Bambusa Togoara, Mart.) makes its
appearance. The stems of this gigantic grass are often eighteen inches
in circumference, and attain a height of from fifty to one hundred
feet. They do not, however, grow perfectly upright, their tops forming
a graceful curve downwards. Throughout the whole distance, the path was
lined on each side with the most beautiful herbaceous plants and
delicate ferns.
We
reached Mr. March's Fazenda early in the forenoon. His estate embraces
an extent of country containing sixty-four square miles. The greater
part of it is still covered by virgin forests; that which is cleared,
consists of pasture land, and several small
* This species I have ascertained to be identical with F. uffinis, Cambess.; F.pyri-folia, Presl.; and F. radicans, Miers.
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