Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-02-27
yOCULAR VEGETATION.
Some "Freaks" of Bnsntmnse Nature
that Excite Our Wonder and Amuse-
meut-

meuG
Frank Bellew In the New York star
Is n sense OF humor one OF the elements
which enters into the scheme of ereations
When come across some OF the extravagant
productions OF nature in both the animal and
vegetable world In which our finite minds can
detect no useful purpose. cannot help feel
ing that these manifestations are the result of a
playful exuberance of fancy I'm the creative
power, perhaps exercised for the entertainment
or relaxation OF man. Look at the huge tail OF
the peacock. What useful purpose does it
server Then turn TO the preposterous hill or
the toucan. What can he the necessity for all
this tail and al that bill? other birds get on
very comfortably with almost no tail at all, and
with bills that are scarcely worth mentioning.
some quadrupeds have horns that would be n
Load Tor "A strong man To carry. Others are as
devoid OF these weapons toad Is oi tail.
some animals are altogether without means Of
defense. while Others are citadeiS of Weapons,
offensive and defensive. Are all these things
arranged Ia entertain man, or do they perform
some necessary function i'm the scheme az
nature which we are not permitted 10 under
stand?
Every moderately read man has an indefinite
idea that lac possesses general knowledge of
the external ASPECT Of the fauna and flora OF
the world. and Yet let him tourney a lew hum
dred miles from has regular habitat and lac VIII
be surprised at some manifestation ~ natures
works of which he had never received the
slightest hint before.
ON first visiting Cuba 1 found myself aston
lshed AT every turn ana corner by freaks of
one seemed 10 consider them worthy oi notice.
here was a tail palm tree with "A trunk bigger
at the top than at the bottom, like an inverted
OH yt>k or carrot with Its point stuck in the
ground. In another place, clambering over the
garden fence, were slender decduuus vines
laden with clumps of fierce torturoas thorns
thicker than the main stem OF the plant resena-
bling cius ers OF small buffalo horns ard as hard
s.s steel. In the same garden grew n ttc. about
as large a. one Of our northern appl trees and
bearing "A flower of the size of "A Mu,coNy duck
which il exactly rcSen,bled i'm torn hill ,Sin,,s'
"a aarlk A
portions shading on into a delicate pink. These
monster howers either hung 10y their beaks to
the limbs of the tree ar lay scattered in profu-
! sion on the grass below, where they reseinbled
| nock OF water fowl swimming IN a pond
i noticed, too in Cuba "A tendency on the part OF
vegetation generally la produce thorns Several
of the larger trees bristled with these vegetable
poniards six inches long. all the way up their
trunks, and 4 could not help rejecting sadly
that the school6oy of that land must have a
rather rough time of IL in the pursuit OF that
laNoite Juvenile pleasure OF climbing trees.
They recall To my mind certain Australian
! llgneous porcuplne known "A the puzzle mon-
! key which il incased i'm an armor of tborns
growing with their points downward i'm "A way
calculated To utterly battle the most astute OF
quadruInana. Certain beautiful red berries or
seeds, resembling the most brilliant coral, was
sufficiently familiar with i'm their inn ported
| In the north; hut n was am agreeable surprise
! To Ind them growing here i'm lavish abundance
nestled IN their slender pods, and 10 be had
wholesale for the picking. was. too, surprised
at the generous proportions, rich color and
irabesque shell OF the peanuts. L piucked
oranges from the tree, which a new sensa-
| tlon, ana they were Very nice; buL did not lind
them much superior Ia those had often bought
i'm hrst-class grocery stores in New York. 1 ate
4 oi numerous pulpy fruits of the custard apple
order, which tasted of NarniSh and disau-
pointed me, but for which 1 could easily under
stand, "A taste might be acquired by patience
ana perseverance. The alligator, or avocado,
/ pear, Is eaten with pepper and salt. and occu-
! pies position OF lis own, solitary aud alone. i'm
the gastronomic world, somewhere between a
melon and "A turnp. Psrtaking more OF tho
character OF a salad than fruit, il looks like
the latter, tastes something like grass, is eaten
with "A spoon, and is altogether am anomaly.
! and one OF the queerest vegetable Jokes i'm the
creation. Speaking about the tendency OF trop-
| lcal vegetation To produce thons IL Is curious
| to note how many of their fruits are either SO
| protected or with hard rinds or shells The
| fruits OF temperate climates, such the apple,
pear, peach, plum, with all the berries can be
| eaten whole, skin and ali, while those of the
| tropics. the orange, pineapple, banana,
prickly pear and in fact every one, needs some
| pare IL for mastication. Why IL this thus, as
| Artemus Ward would say. i begin to suspect
that we know very little about the motives and
principles of creation after all. Why should
| some plants be made To look like insects, and
some insects To look like plants? Why do they
| go masqueraclng In each others clothes? Does
IL not look though il were intended Tor a good
| piece OF fun? Most OF us have heard of. IA
| have not seen, the wonderful leaf insect which
| SO closely resembles that portion OF plant as To
deceive the eye on the closest inspection while.
Oh the other hand, many OF the orchids take on
| the exact form of insects. One resembles 4
| gaudy butterfly, another spider, and a third.
called the holy spirit plant. opens Its sphere OF
dove, pure as alabaster, with wings utspread i'm
| the attitude chosen 10y artists To represent the
| Holy Spirit in sacred pictures. This most exc
quisite flower is "A native OF South and Central
America, where it is regarded with supersti-
tious reverence and employed i'm many
: religious ceremonies. Then we have plants
which eat insects and beefsteak II they
can get IL, with various ingenious traps
for catching its prey, which IL Will reach out to
| secure III placed not too TAR OF. Some plants
are perfect. gluttons, requiring abundance Of
the richest kinds OF food. while Others most
| abstemious, drawing nourishment from bare
| stones or sand, and others again can support
| themselves on air alone One such they have
| in Bermuda, known among the natives the
Hopper, "A leaf of which torn from the plant. will
flourish and throw out roots IL nailed To the
paror wall, and even exist and terminate be-
tween the leaves OF book. In Barbadoes thew
have "A tree called the frying fish tree nom its
producing a sound exactly resembling that cub
| mary ceremony. This Il caused by its long,
dry pods rubbing together and has often led
| To droll mistakes and disappointments 10
hungry visitors. Another tree in Barbadoes
| grows a huge pod OF from eighteen 10 twenty.
four inches in length, which IL AN exact model
| OF South Sea Islanders canoe with
| high prov. liz siIaL island their gooseberries
grow ON apple trees, or at least ON trees quite
| large. There they have the famous bread fruit
| vans, sweet lemons, horsebunkers, a fruit
| covered with spines; the casava, which makes
| delicious cakes, and numerous other vegetable
productions which We may, or may not, have
| heard OF. but which give "A pleasant surprise
| when We meet them face TO face in their native
| land. We have al heard OF the Australian
| cherry with the stone outside, and their pear
with the stem at the wrong end, while every
child has at some time or other dissected the
! pod of our American milk weed to discover the
exquisite silver fish inside wrapped In its bed
OF silk. All these eccentricities OF floral growth
| impress one with the feeling that they were
| created IN sportlyeness, AS toys for man-some-
| thing 10 surprise aud delight him, and enllyen
| the monotony OF the set course OF nature show.
hing a beneficent consideration Tor even the
Humorous department OF our intelligence.