Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-08-11


AMONG PLANTS AND FLOWERS.
The Wonderful Collection IN The Ne.
tanical Gardens.
PLANTS FROM ALL Parts OF Tn1 woRLD-rHI ruE-
PKRAruRB MODIFIED TO SUIT THEIR REQUIRE.
xESrs-soME OF TIE STRANGE PLANTs-suPxRu-
TxNDESr SMITHS DESCRIPTION OF THEIR PIcu.
LIARITIEs.
"The Botanical Gardens were never In inner con-
dition than now" said Superintendent WIN. r
Smith to STAR reporter the other day. "The
reason is" he continued, shat we are now up to
grade that is we have been elevated IL feet within
the last few years.
care you increasing the size Of the gardenss"
mo, but we are constantly adding new species
and varieties Of plants"
A little TO the right Of the 3d-street entrance
MI Smith called the reporters attention to his
great pride, the "Rock Garden Thousands OF
stones OF various qualities and shapes placed In
such manner as TO form over 2, 900 pockets, from
which spring various plants, constitute the gar
den
Most Of these stones" said Mr. Smith, "are
TON 1ne itnoiogeai collection which was at the
Here the student could pass hours with his ham,
mer and microscope so extensive Is the collection
anS sectiol OF the country Is well represented in
"a ahe
strking py the great varieties OF cactus that
spring from the top.
GARFrKLDs TREE.
"This Is Garneld's tree" said Mr.. Smith, point
Ing to beautiful acacia. "when GARFIELD died
the tree was stripped and its leaves sent to be en-
tw1ned about his comm. You will notice that
every shoot the tree makes forms q triangle the
symbol OF Masonry. That Is Albert Pixies tree, !"
Eo1 T M s to similar
and south well represented, but no feeling exists
for their roots are interwoven as we found some
Will be down In lew days to trim his tree.
the interior OF the huge dollhouse to which the
reporter was conducted Is so arranged as TO form
geographical distribution OF plants. In other
words the tropics are in the center house, and
tnere can De found the plants OF that climate,
5se SwS wings
their plants well-represented on all sides.
THE CENTURY PLANT.
"Here Is the so-called Century Plant" said Mr..
Smith, pointing to q tall ungainly looking plant
with pretty flowers at the top.
"ls 1t true that these plants bloom but once In a
century," asked The STAR man.
eyes and no. The truth OF the matter is, as
soon as plant blooms It dies-therefore 1t blooms
Sas IN snS TINS Is
see It's already commencing TO die"
"Here we are in the tropics" said Mr.. Smith.
So The heat was grsat and the sa air very dry
party Of Italians passing through stopped In
front Of banana tree, and one Of the party was
heard to exclaim
"LooKRR THE BASAN."
The tall bamboo. the stately palm, the pine ap-
ples and even the monkey frisking around added
to the tropical features OF the place.
"You can see the immense power Of the bam-
ooo' said Mr.. Smith, 'ff you come this way"
In the center OF the house four large slabs Of
stone, bound together by iron, formed the pot. A
couple OF young shoots springing from between
the earth and the stone had broken the iron bind
ers and displaced the stone, which weighed over
100 pounds, several inches.
This plant is the greatest grower know Of, y
six weeks they would have been through the roof !"
do you propagate orchids to any great extent?"
1--WE have three houses OF them. Nearly 500
varieties Come, I'll show them to you.
AMONG THE ORCHIDS.
The first house visited was occupied by several
ladies, sketching the different flowers and Mr.
Smith explained that such visits were frequent
The High School used to come with their teacher
OF botany, he said, and stay sometimes all day.
He hoped after awhile to be able TO arrange matters
so as 10 have lectures once a week.
The orchids were found growing In small boxes
suspended from the roof by wires. The wood from
with regard TO its durability, and locust, teak
wood and cork are mostly used.
PRINCESS BEATRICE's FLOWER.
"This is the flower Queen victoria's daughter,
Beatrice, wore In preference to the crown jewels
when she married Prince Louis OF Battepberg. 1t
is called the Aerides odOratd,n said Mr.. Smith,
pointing to beautiful cluster Of flowers sand this
Is the famous FL Dorado, with its golden CENTER
Here Is the most expensive orchid know Of 1t is
called the Anectchytus, and is worth about 500
a leaf The ShVe OF Venus Is the name OF this one,
and these, pointing to number Of plants bearing
tiny flowers, "are species OF the butterfly family.
Here's plant that In us present condition re-
Quired twenty years careful study to bring IL up
This Hover Is the famous Wanda sunderland
Morgan's sale had one catalogued and It brought
it was caught In the blizzard and persisted the
same day Roscoe Conkling died
AN UNLICENSED BARRON.
81 want to call your attention to the unlicensed
bar-rooms you will notice In this house." said Mr.
Smith, as he entered another house near BY.
Here flowers resembling small red bananas could
be seen. They were hollow and open at the top,
and contained ALOUD. These were the unlicensed
bar-rOOms.
Breaking one on and opening it, 1t was n.led
They come and drink the liquor" said Mr.
Smith, get drunk and die happy"
Here Is the cock-roach bar-rOOm, " he continued
"and here the spiders An ant will not drink any
OF the roach or spider liquor and rice versa"
Near the door beautiful plant with creamy
white leaves was labelled consumption plant"
whence the manner" asked the reporter, sis the
plant dseased?"
"Yes 1t really has the consumption" was the
reply, land where these leaves are tinted creamy
white they are diseased lungs. You know that
plant breathes through its leaves This plant is
propagated for its beauty"
THE FLY-TRAP FLOWER
In large pot near by hundreds Of tiny thick
leaves resembling semi-circular laws provided
with small, sharp teeth, attracted the reporters
attention.
That's the well-known fly-trap f1ower,n said
Mr.. smith by way OF explanation.
While he was speaking, butterfly aighted in
one. Quicker than thought the jaws closed and
the butterfly was prisoner.
"How long Will that butterfly remain prtso-
ner?" asked the reporter.
1.-TWO or three days. BY that time the flowers
will have derived all the benefit and good the Nv
possesses, and its jaws will open and the ny be
cast out. 1t is my belief that the flower obtains
sustenance from the prisoners IL takes Some
times 1t gets hold Of the wrong kind Of food, how.
ever, and 1t gets dyspepsia. This conclusion is
reached from the effect OF the food on the leaves
Now this cell caught the head OF a blue-bottle nv
couple Of days ago, and got the dyspepsia, as
you can see by its color"
The reporter looked and saw a sickly combina.
ton OF green and yellow markings on the leaves
and the dead ny still between them.
-->O>-
PLEASURES AT ROCK ENON.
Merry.making In the M0umtaIns-
Fine Scenery and q French Cook.
Correspondence Of THE EVENING STAR.
ROCK ENoN SPRINGS, Va, August &