The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1875-01-17
Vegetation in the Valley of the Amazon.
lAppleton's MAgaxine I

tApptetons Magazine
In his recent attractive work on the Amazon
o chapter to the description of the vegetation
of the virgin forests of these worid-famed
regions. e|pbasizing and rendering his de-
scriptIon Plain by the aid Of numerous en-
grnvtnge, frustrating the prolific fern and tree
growshs Of these forests. From this work we
Oondense As follows: In no regions ia the rest.
less acttvity OF Nature so conspicuous as in the
tropics where the succession of yegesahIe
aeeez ana life 10 90 much more rapid than il il
~ solder clinnes The wastes Of the noun tain
si0pess broken OF by the numerous rills and
sarsens fhas couree down their rugged sides,
ands it's way into the main rivers which wind
snrongh the broad valleys below. By these
the dnes from the mountain-sides combined
with rich organic RENAME, is deposited alon q
; inc shores re-; or heaped together, TO form new
foundations, it is not surprising that the barren
islands should soon be transformed into green
gardens, rich in all the glories of q tropical
forest, and continually fed by fresh supplies at
the hand of the river which gave them BIRTH
Trees of soft wood, most of them with white
bark and light-green foliage, like the emba u ba
aud the siphonia. and herbaceous plants
fttest nurture in the light soil of the Iyapo
while thorny mnru- inurus and javary palms.
cacao, various myrtacse. and figs, prefer the
Hargem, which is Hooded only u short time of
tue year. The noble castenbeira, the CEDAR
and all other splendid timbers of the tropics,
thrive on terra frma only, sbove flood. level, in
the " drift" of Agessiz
. Splendid trunks, some of them twenty feet
IN diameter, rise like pillars supporting the
dense green foliage above. Graceful palms,
spare and bushy, and crowned with their
burdens of light red and yellow berries,
struggle to find the light from which they are
concealed by their giant neighbors. Among
the moet striking of these latter is the figueira
or wild-fgtree, which is q vegetable wonder,
whether we regard the astounding dimensions
of its crown and stem, or the strange shape of
it's roots.
These tropical roots seem to grow in all
directions, forming props stays, and cross
bars, wherever they are wanted. In many in
stances they appear to serve the purpose of
props merely, since they rest upon the ra gged
surfaces of barren rocks, the life of the tree
being sustained by that of the air into which
it reaches rather than the earth from which it
appears to spring.
In many cases spirit of rivalry seems to
exist between the extremitiea of these strange
growths, the grotesqueness of the root-shapes
contending for admiration and wonder with
the Astounding richness of the leafy yerdure
above Nor are these strange forms to be
ranked as mere purpose'ess freaks of Nature,
since the roots serve as trellises along which
mount upward toward the light. Among their
crooked root Joints, light ferns and rich moses
spring; and, in return for the support thus
granted them, cover their rude nakedness with
. royal garment of fresh green leaves.
Here the life of every creature is one of
adjusted, that death comes to renew life to the
growth. From the decaying trunks
Of the giant trees there springs fresh life in the
form of MOSES, ferns, and numberless rain
bow-hued orchids. while the very rocks them
selves cannot yield one iota of their solidity
without finding their crevices at once occupied
by the searching rootlets of the palm and tree
fern.