|
----continuation etching commentary #3b----
But otherwise here the botanist
has a welcome opportunity to become  acquainted with tree-flowers, since
they do not anywhere hang higher than you might reach them. Frequently
they are weighted down with the spreading tufts of parasitic plants --
I am speaking of Loranthum and Viscum --or
the large, black balls in which the astonished traveler discovers the
dwelling-places of countless ants. Various woody shrubs running through
the branches of these trees lend them their charm, since now they are
covered with many small red or yellow flowers, such as various woody shrubs
from the order of the Malpighiaceae,
and now they bear very large flowers, such as various species of Aristolochia,
which occur there often. Let enough be said of that region overall.
In etching #3 you will see to the left in front a group of the largest
palm which appears in that arid region, Cocos flexuosa . It rises up in a sloped spot between shaggy clumps
of Paspalum, and nearby
is a small shrub of Gomphia.
The tree that can be seen a bit farther back, mutilated and weighed down
by a black ant-nest, is Erythroxylon
suberosum, the thick, cracked bark of which is used by the inhabitants
to dye wool darkly. If you turn more to the right, Aspidosperma
macrocarpum, from the family of the Apocyneae,
whose opened fruit can be compared to a conch, rises up among tall ant-hills. Myrmecophagae jubatae (ant-eaters) -- animals of quite an extraordinary appearance, which the
inhabitants call Tamandua Bandeira -- pursue the builders of
these ant-hills with their sharp tongues. In that tree luxuriates Aristolochia
gigantea with its very large flowers,  which are long at the base
and sprinkled with dark spots. In the midst of these a Eupatorium is borne up high with its large clusters, and behind them is Kielmeyera, Peridium and Cnestis.
In right to the front Wittelsbachia
insignis spreads yellow flowers, near which stands a small twisted
and delicate tree with glaucous, bipinnate leaves: Stryphnodendron
Barbatimao, whose bark is frequently for medicine because of
the very strong astringent it contains. The two tallest trees in front
are Salvertia convallariaeodora,
outstanding in the family of the Vochysiaceae,
which these regions very often present to one's view, and Phaeocarpas
campestris, from the family of the Sapindaceae.
Canes campestres indigenous
to this wilderness and grouped together in large packs -- the inhabitants
call them Guara -- bring battle to the rest of the animals which
predominate here. Thus you see a number of them wandering across the mountain
and pursuing ant-eaters. You will find more concerning this region in
my "Travels in Brazil". (2)
Canis campestris, the red fox
#3 of 42 expedition commentaries
 
|
