But what most strikes attention in this tree, and renders it so peculiar, is, that the roots are almost entirely above ground. They spring out from the stem, each one at a higher point than the last, and extend diagonally downwards till they approach the ground, when they often divide into many rootlets, each of which secures itself in the soil. As fresh ones spring out from the stem, those below become rotten and die off; and it is not an uncommon thing to see a lofty tree supported entirely by three or four roots, so that a person may walk erect beneath them, or stand with a tree seventy feet high growing immediately over his head. In the forests where these trees grow, numbers of young plants of every age may be seen, all miniature copies of their parents, except that they seldom possess more than three legs, which gives them a strange and almost ludicrous appearance. The figure on the opposite page (Plate XIII.) represents accurately the roots of a tree which had been partly blown down in the forest of the Upper Rio Negro. My friend Mr. Spruce informs me that it is a distinct species from that found at Pará, though closely allied to it, and scarcely differing in the character of the roots. The wood of these trees is very hard on the outside, but soft and pithy within. It splits easily and very straight, and is much used for forming the floors of canoes, the ceilings of houses, shelves, seats, and various other purposes. Perfectly straight laths are more readily made from it than from any other wood, and they are so hard and durable as to serve for fish-weirs, corals for turtles, and for harpoons. The air-roots are covered with tubercular prickles, and are used by some Indians to grate their mandiocca. This species grows in swamps or marshy ground in the virgin forest, not in the tide-flooded lands on the river banks. Young plants may be seen in the great Palm House at Kew. A fruit is represented on Plate III. fig. 5. of the natural size. [Illustration: Pl. XIII. W. Fitch lith. Ford & West Imp. ROOTS OF AN IRIARTEA. ] [Illustration: Pl. XIV. W. Fitch lith. Ford & West Imp. IRIARTEA VENTRICOSA. Ht. 20 Ft. ] PLATE XIV. IRIARTEA VENTRICOSA, _Martius_. Pashiúba barriguda, _Brazil_.