BOTANICAL EXPEDITIOX TO BRAZIL

The

floraof eastern Brazilisofespecial interest tothestudent of tropical

North American

plants.

Only

a few botanical collections were

made

inthe tropicsof

North America

untilafteran important scientificexpedition toBrazilhad

made known much

of theflora of eastern Brazil and part of the valley of the

Amazon.

Brazil, the

West

^Indies,and

Panama

have

many

species of plants in

common.

The

Brazilianexpedition referredto

was

sent,underthe leadership of

Von

Martins, by Francis I of Austria as an honoraryescort to hisdaughter,Leopoldina,onhervoyagetoBrazilto

marry

the

crown

prince of Portugal andBrazil,the

man

later

known

asthe ^"Libera- tor,"PedroIof Brazil. Martinsand Spix. after afew

months

about Rio de Janeiro,wentto Sao Paulo and

from

there

made

their

way

northward through

Minas

Geraesand BahiatoPiauhy and

Maranhao

on the north coast, crossing Rio

Sao

Francisco at Joazeiro.

They

then traveled

up

the

Amazon

to

some

distancebeyondTefife (orEga).

The Amazon

andother parts of Brazil have sincebeen explored andtheU. S. National

Herbarium

has, by exchange,

come

in for a share of the plants collected, but there

was

no U. S. National

Herbarium

at thetime of Martins and butlittle has since beencol- lected, atleastof grasses, in theregionhe traversed inthe interior.

For

this reason, it seemed important to collect material

from

this region, and late in 1924, Mrs.

Agnes

Chase, assistant agrostologist of theNationalHerbarium,

was

detailed forthispurpose.

Arrivingin Rio de Janeiro on

November

i, Mrs. Chase first col- lected on Corcovado, here procuring

many

of the species first de- scribed fromthismountain byRaddi. In s])iteof thedense popula- tion in the lowlands, the mountains about Rio de Janeirohave not been spoiled forthe botanist. Except for the invasion inplaces of Melinis minutiflora,called "capim gordura^'' (molassesgrass,byus), an African species early introduced into Brazil, the steep jungly slopes are probably not greatly changed

from

what they were ^a hundredyears ago.

Four

daysafterlanding,Mrs. Chaseleftfor

Pernambuco

inorderto reach that region before thedryseason

was much

advanced.

Pernam-

buco, or Recife, as thecityis

commonly

called,liesonfiatgroundbuilt

up

bycoral reefsand mangroves.

The

surroundingregionisdensely populated.

Wooded

hills which at a distance

showed

no signs of being inhabitedturnedoutto be fullof hutsandgoatsand children.

Inlittleclearingswerepatches ofmaize andbeans,andafew bananas and sometimes oranges. Vetiveria

was

planted about

many

of the

SMITHSONIAN

EXPLORATIONS, I925 49

Fig. 51.

—

^Mangrove marshes north ofRecife. Thecoast of Pernambuco

isbuiltup bycoral reefsand mangroves. Inthe distance are seen theruins ofanold fortandlighthouse.

Vu:. 52.—Part of PauloAfifonso Falls. These falls arr ~. r.1 ;i that theyformastupendous cascade. Thereisno onepointfrom which^{the entire} fallscan beseen. Thecanyonwallsaredevoid of vegetation exceptinafew spotswatered bythespray.

50

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLAXKOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. ^^

huts. Thisisoneof theoilgrasses,introduced

from

theEastIndies.

In the

West

Indies,the roots areusedto scent clothingandto keep moths away,but hereitisusedtothatchhuts.

The

caju (cashew) is

everywhere, a beautiful wide-spreading tree, bearing multitudes of fragrant small

maroon

flowersandfruit inallstages of development.

The

wet

meadows

and stream borders offered the best botanizing.

Here

weregreatPaspalums and Panicums,tangledwitharoids, ferns, andbrush.

A

^quaking bog yielded

some

little-knowngrasses.

A

trip

was made

to Bello Jardim, i86 kilometers to the west in theSerra da Genipapo,atanaltitudeof 600to650meters.

The

hills are covered with scrub orlow trees, the "caatinga," consisting of mimosas, acacias,and thorny shrubs and semi-arborescent cactuses, except

where

it hasbeen cleared for planting.

Ground

iscleared by burning,andcotton,sugarcane, castorplants,mandiocca,andtobacco are planted, sometimeshere and there

among

theshrubsor tussocks ofsedgethatrefusedtoburn. There seemedtobelittleornocultiva- tion.

When

a field becomes overgrown with weeds or brush it is

abandoned and a

new

place is burned, land being very cheap.

The

result is that cultivated spots are scattered hit or miss throughthe scrub, which is overgrazed by ^{cattle, horses,} donkeys, sheep, and goats tillonlyinedible shrubsandherbs, Jatropha, Capparis,andthe like,flourish.

No

forage crops are

grown

inthe sertao (the interior arid region) except for little patches of Para grass here and there along astream. In

November

the dry season had only begun, yet every edible plant inthe sertaoseemed to have been consumed, and therewerestill

some

eight

months

to endurebefore therains.

A

second journey

was made

toGaranhuns, 850 metershigh,inthe sertaoto the southwest.

The

countryhere is

much

less barren, and

more

progressive, with fairly good sugarcane ^fields, and with bul- lockcarts in

common

use.

With two women

missionaries, ]\Irs. Chasevisited' Paulo Affonso Falls inRio SaoFrancisco,about 150miles

from

Garanhuns. These

falls are 610 feet in height, higher than Niagara and of greater volume.

The

region had not before been visited by a botanist and

much was

expected of it, but the desert extends to the vast river, eventhecanyonwallsbeingalmost devoid of vegetation.

The

period

from December

7toJanuary5

was

spent about Bahia.

inthesandy savannasand marshestothe northandinthehillcoun- try across the bay, about Cachoeiro and Feira Santa Anna.

A

trip across thestate toJoazeiro on Rio Sao Francisco

was

disappointing,

SMITHSONIAN

EXPLORATIONS, I925 ₅₁

^ ^Mk ^

'i:,i*&.iw

--'•^^ -^P*^i^l^kk w^<-^r.- ?

j^^S^^^

,;:::%^-

.-"'*'

#-,•

«

«fS

-'/'"

Fig. 53.

—

View from the .summit of Agulhas Negras. Tins high region, .\Ita de Serra,is rich ingrasses.

Fin. 54.

— A

^{cornfield in}a palm grove, foothillsof Serra de Cipo. Land

is commonly cleared by burning, the trees that withstand the tire being allowedtostand.