Part 33

By the side of this you may set the lovely Huntleya violacea, one of the discoveries of Sir R. Schomburgk in the interior of Guiana. Its broad wavy petals of the softest richest violet, "vary in intensity from deepest sapphire to the mild iridescence of opal." This fine flower has a melancholy interest from its being associated with the death of Sir Robert's friend and fellow-servant, Mr Reiss. The gorgeous scenes of tropical vegetation in which the plant was found, and the sad accident, are thus depicted by the accomplished traveller:--

"I discovered the Huntleya violacea for the first time in October 1837, then on my ascent of the river Essequibo. The large cataract, Cumaka Toto, or Silk Cotton Fall, obliged us to unload our corials, and to transport the luggage overland, in order to avoid the dangers which a mass of water, at once so powerful and rapid, and bounded by numerous rocks, might offer to our ascent. While the Indians were thus occupied, I rambled about one of the small islands, which the diverging arms of the river formed in their descent, and the vegetation of which had that peculiar lively appearance which is so characteristic of the vicinity of cataracts, where a humid cloud, the effects of the spray, always hovers around them. Blocks of syenite were heaped together; and while their black shining surface contrasted strongly with the whitish foam of the torrent, and with the curly waves beating against the rocky barriers--as if angry at the boundary which they attempted to set to the incensed element--their dome-shaped summits were adorned with a vegetation at once rich and interesting. Heliconias, Tillandsias, Bromelias, Ferns, Pothos, Cyrtopodiums, Epidendrums, Peperomias, all appeared to struggle for the place which so small a surface afforded to them. The lofty mountains, Akaywanna, Comute, or Taquia, and Tuasinki, recede and form an amphitheatre, affording a highly interesting scene, and no doubt the most picturesque of that part of the river Essequibo.

"I was attracted by a number of Oncidium altissimum which covered one of the rocky piles, and astonished me by their long stems and bright colour of their flowers, when my attention was more powerfully attracted by a plant, the appearance of which, although different from the pseudo-bulbous tribe, proclaimed, nevertheless, that it belonged to that interesting family, the Orchideæ. The specimens were numerous; and clothed almost, with their vivid green, the rugged and dark trunks of the gigantic trees, which contributed to the majestic scene around me. It was not long before I discovered one of these plants in flower. It was as singular as it was new to me;--the sepals and petals of a rich purple and velvet-like appearance; the helmet, to which form the column bore the nearest resemblance, of the same colour; the labellum striated with yellow.

"In the sequel of my expeditions, I found it generally in the vicinity of cataracts, where a humid vapour is constantly suspended, and where the rays of the sun are scarcely admitted through a thick canopy of foliage. I traced the Huntleya from the sixth parallel of latitude to the shady mountains of the Acaria chain near the equator; but in its fullest splendour it appeared at one of the small islands among the Christmas cataracts in the river Berbice. There is a melancholy circumstance connected with the plant, which its appearance never fails to recall to my memory. Their singular beauty at this spot induced my friend, Mr Reiss, who accompanied me as a volunteer during the unfortunate expedition up the river Berbice, to draw and paint it on the spot. He was yet occupied with this task when the last of our canoes was to descend the dangerous cataract. He arose from his occupation, desirous to descend with the Indians in the canoe, although against my wish, but he persisted. The canoe approached the fall; it upset; and, of thirteen persons who were in it at the time, he was the only one who paid the rash attempt with his life. He is now buried opposite that island, the richest vegetable productions of which it was his last occupation to imitate on paper and in colours."

We might linger long on these flowers of strange loveliness, but space compels us to forsake them and to turn to some other examples in the wide range of Flora's domains. How glorious a sight must be the sheeted Rhododendrons of the Himalaya peaks, on whose lofty elevations Dr Hooker found these fine plants in great prominence, "clothing the mountain-slopes with a deep-green mantle, glowing with bells of brilliant colours; of the eight or ten species growing here, [on the Zemir, in Sikkim, twelve thousand feet above the sea,] every bush was loaded with as great a profusion of blossoms as are their northern congeners in our English gardens!"

The noblest of the genus is that which is dedicated to Lady Dalhousie. It is an epiphyte, being always found growing, like the Orchids, among mosses and ferns, upon the trunks of large trees, especially oaks and magnolias, at an elevation of from seven to ten thousand feet. In this particular, in the fragrance of its noble white blossoms, in its slender habit, in the whorled arrangement of its branches, and in the length of time during which it continues in flower in its native regions, viz., from April to July, it differs from all its fellows of the same genus that inhabit northern India.

The flowers are four inches in length and four in diameter, with a broad trumpet lip. Their colour is pure white, assuming a delicate rosy tinge as they become old, and sometimes becoming spotted with orange. They have an odour which resembles that of the lemon.

Of this and the following species Dr Hooker writes from Dorjiling, seven thousand feet above the sea:--"On the branches of the immense purple-flowered magnolia, (M. Campbellii,) and those of oaks and laurels, Rhododendron Dalhousiæ grows epiphytally, a slender shrub bearing from three to six white lemon-scented bells, four and a half inches long and so many broad, at the end of each branch. In the same woods the scarlet Rhododendron (R. arboreum) is very scarce, and is outvied by the great R. argenteum, which grows as a tree, forty feet high, with magnificent leaves twelve to fifteen inches long, deep green wrinkled above and silvery below, while the flowers are as large as those of R. Dalhousiæ and grow more in a cluster. I know nothing of the kind that exceeds in beauty the flowering branch of R. argenteum, with its wide-spreading foliage and glorious mass of flowers."

The latter, which is nearly equal to R. Dalhousiæ in the size of its blossoms, and perhaps superior to it in other respects, is another white-flowered species. It is, as described above, a tree with large massive leaves of a silvery tint beneath. When young, they are exquisitely beautiful, being encased in long flesh-coloured cones of large scales, of very ornamental appearance. The flowers are three inches long, forming a compact globose head.

They secrete a large quantity of honey, which is said to be poisonous, as is also that of R. Dalhousiæ.

The grandeur and beauty of the same genus are celebrated by Mr Low, as he saw the species growing in Borneo, where too their parasitic character struck him, as it had done Dr Hooker:--

"Perhaps the most gorgeous of the native plants are the various species of the genus Rhododendron, which here assume a peculiar form, being found epiphytal upon the trunks of trees, as the genera of the tribe Orchidace{oe}. This habit, induced probably by the excessive moisture of the climate, is not, however, confined to the Ericaceous plants, but also prevails with the genera Fagria, Combretum, and many others, usually terrestrial; the roots of the Rhododendrons, instead of being, as with the species [which are] inhabitants of cold climates, small and fibrous, become large and fleshy, winding round the trunks of the forest trees; the most beautiful one is that which I have named in compliment to Mr Brooke. Its large heads of flowers are produced in the greatest abundance throughout the year: they much exceed in size those of any known species, frequently being formed of eighteen flowers, which are of all shades, from pale and rich yellow to a rich reddish salmon-colour; in the sun, the flowers sparkle with a brilliancy resembling that of gold dust.

"Four other species which I discovered are very gorgeous, but of different colours, one being crimson and another red, and the third a rich tint between these two: of the fourth I have not yet seen the flowers."

Take an example from another order. The Lightning-tree of Madagascar rises before us in the graphic pages of Mr Ellis:--

"But the most magnificent objects were the fine trees of Astrapæa Wallichii, or viscosa. The name of this Malagasy plant was derived from the word for lightning, on account of the brilliancy of its flowers; and Sir Joseph Paxton and Dr Lindley have thus spoken of A. Wallichii:--'One of the finest plants ever introduced. And when loaded with its magnificent flowers, we think nothing can exceed its grandeur.' I had seen a good-sized plant growing freely at Mauritius, but here it was in its native home, luxuriating on the banks of the stream, its trunk a foot in diameter, its broad-leaved branches stretching over the water, and its large, pink, globular, composite flowers, three or four inches in diameter, suspended at the end of a fine down-covered stalk, nine inches or a foot in length. These, hanging by hundreds along the course of the stream, surpassed anything of the kind I had seen, or could possibly have imagined. I frequently met with the Astrapæa afterwards, but always growing near the water, and its branches frequently stretching over a lake or river."

The Leguminous or Papilionaceous order presents many plants of striking beauty, both in foliage, which is often of extreme lightness and elegance, and also in blossom. They are among the gayest and most graceful of plants in all regions. The magnificent vegetation of the Mauritius contains one of notable glory, the Flamboyant, thus noticed by Ellis:--

"Conspicuous beyond all the rest is the stately and gorgeous Poinciana regia, compact-growing and regular in form, but retaining something of the acacia habit, rising sometimes to the height of forty or fifty feet, and, between the months of December and April, presenting, amidst its delicate pea-green pinnated leaves, one vast pyramid of bunches of bright, dazzling scarlet flowers. Seen sometimes over the tops of the houses, and at others in an open space, standing forth in truly regal splendour, this is certainly one of the most magnificent of trees. Its common name is mille fleurs, or flamboyant."

I have had the delight of seeing the Poinciana pulcherrima in Jamaica, where it goes by the name of Flower-feuce, or sometimes, the "Pride of Barbadoes." It is, when in flower, a gorgeous mass of scarlet and orange, and it seemed to me the most magnificent thing in its way, that I had ever seen. It does not, however, attain the dimensions of its antipode, rarely exceeding those of a large shrub.

I know not what the Burmese tree is, which is alluded to in the following extracts from letters which I have received from my esteemed friend, Captain G. E. Bulger, of the 10th Regiment:--

"I shall be exceedingly obliged by your telling me whether you are familiar with the tree known in the West Indies and South America as the 'Bois Immortel;' and whether you think the leaf herewith sent belongs to it.

"During the cool season in Burmah, the forest presents a gorgeous sight, from the multitude of scarlet blossoms which a large kind of tree puts forth; and I am strongly inclined to think that this splendid ornament of the jungles is, at all events, allied to the Bois Immortel of the Western World.

"The tree I speak of begins to flower about the middle of December, at which time the leaves commence to wither and drop off. By the end of January, when it is in full bloom, there is hardly a leaf remaining, but it continues one mass of scarlet blossom until March. The flower is shaped like that of the pea.

"If you can enlighten me on this point I shall be indeed very much obliged."

I was compelled to confess my ignorance even of the South American beauty, and my friend thus replied:--

"I first read of the 'Bois Immortel' in 'Waterton's Wanderings,' and I subsequently saw a coloured representation of the tree in Mr Gould's magnificent work on Humming-Birds. I think the specific name was also given in that work, but it is some time ago, and I have almost forgotten what it was like. Since I saw these two works, I have heard officers speak of the splendour of the South American forests during the season of 'Le Bois Immortel,' and have heard more than one say that they believed nothing on earth could be more magnificent than 'matchless Trinidad' when these trees are in full bloom. The autumnal beauty of the North American woods is, doubtless, familiar to you, and I question very much whether there is anything richer or more lovely to be found even in South America."

Even the humblest orders of plants have the element of beauty bestowed on them with no niggard hand. Who would have expected, among the Chenopodeæ, and, above all, in the lowly little Saltworts, to find such a glowing scene as Mr Atkinson describes?--

"We were now on a heavy sandy steppe--part of the Sackha Desert, which extends into the Gobi--and vegetation was so very scant, that even the steppe grass had disappeared. The Salsola was growing in a broad belt around the small salt lakes, its colour varying from orange to the deepest crimson. These lakes have a most singular appearance when seen at a distance. The sparkling of the crystallised salt, which often reflected the deep crimson around, gave them the appearance of diamonds and rubies set in a gorgeous framework. I rode round several times, admiring their beauty, and regretting that it was impossible to stay and visit a large lake, which I observed, ten or fifteen versts distant, surrounded with green, orange, and crimson."

The microscope, too, will bring out beauties in flowers which the unassisted eye is incompetent fully to recognise. If we take a scarlet Geranium, or a purple Heartsease, the eye is delighted with the brilliancy of the colouring; but on placing a petal of either on a slip of glass, under a pretty high magnifying power, and reflecting the full rays of the sun through the object, the rich gorgeousness of the hue, the sparkling gem-like radiance of the surface, and the exquisitely-regular form of the round cells, with their clear interstices, form a spectacle of glorious beauty that almost surpasses the conception of one who has not seen it.