The stem is
smooth, and about two inches in diameter; its height is not more
than twelve to fifteen feet; it does not, therefore, rise amongst
the masses of foliage of the exogenous trees, so as to form a
feature in the landscape, like the broad-leaved Murumuru and
Urucuri, the slender Assai, the tall Jauari, and the fan-leaved
Muriti of the banks of the Amazons.
On the shores of the main river the mass of the forest is
composed, besides palms, of Leguminosae, or trees of the bean
family, in endless variety as to height, shape of foliage,
flowers, and fruit; of silk-cotton trees, colossal nut-trees
(Lecythideae), and Cecropiae; the underwood and water-frontage
consisting in great part of broad-leaved Musaceae, Marantaceae,
and succulent grasses-- all of which are of light shades of
green. The forests of the Rio Negro are almost destitute of these
large-leaved plants and grasses, which give so rich an appearance
to the vegetation wherever they grow; the margins of the stream
being clothed with bushes or low trees, having the same gloomy
monotonous aspect as the mangroves of the shores of creeks near
the Atlantic.
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