Mower County transcript., 1890-10-08
WHITE HOUSE PLANTS.

Rare and Curious Specimens That Attract
tho Attention Of Visitors.
Curious plants abound In tho White
House conservat tory, and the history Of
some Of them is decidedly interesting
to visitors who are permitted to inspect
this attachment to the Executive Man
sion. Probably the plant to which the
gardeners are most attached is the big
sago palm, the age of.which is fixed st
260 years. 1t was from time immemo-
rial ono OF tho attractions Of Washing
toms conservatory ct Mount Vernon,
and before his death he presented II to
friend in Baltimore. who made q
speciality Of collecting palms Upon
the death OF the Baltimorean
his estate was settled, and a
gardener from the White House
received the precious sago palm.
For upward Of forty years it has
been located between tho doors leading
into the state dining-room and the pri-
vate corridor at the base OF the stairway
used by the family of the White House.
and it is usually the first object to greet
visitors from the mansion. One Pc
culiarity noticed about the plant is that
one year 1t will throw out crown Of
leaves, probably fifty or sixty in mum.
ber, and tho succeeding year 1t will con-
tent itself with towering. When the
foliage is full, as at present, the plant
measures twelve feet in diameter and
the trunk has diameter OF fourteen
inches. Almost at tho base of the
big square box containing the sago is
q largo earthen pot, from which
springs beautiful and novel cluster OF
leaves known as the Australian BIRDS
nest fern, the leaves being from three
to four feet long and attaining width
of six to ten inches. As its name i'm.
plies, this form is favorite with birds
who do not care to be troubled about
gathering materials for their nests but
find an agreeable substitute already
formed Of the hirsuto attachment from
which the leaves appear to spring. In
this soft hairy bed eggs arc deposited,
and when hatched the brood leaves for
other quarters, and the nest only awaits
another occupant
Several years ago Gardener Phester
received from Q friend in Brazil
rare specimen of the orchid family,
which he treated with the attention
it deserved. Upon opening the pack
age he discovered q Seeding Of some
sort astray, and he took personal
charge of it, and was abundantly recon.
pensed for his trouble. Itturned out to
be magnificent lily, the botanic name
being antharium vepricosum, and it
thrived remarkably under the treatment
prescribed by the White House garden
or. Subsequently it was ascertained
that only one other specimen of this
lily is owned outside of Brazil, and that
Is by the Kew Garden at London, En-
gland. Botanists, and those who make
specially Of rare plants, value the find
at upward of 81, 600. and the flower.
which Is creamy white, spotted at the
not unlike that of a magnolia grandi-
fora. It is now in . pot sixteen
inches in diameter, and the beautiful
green leaves are at least five feet
in diameter. Half . dozen shoots or
seedlings have been taken from the
parent lily, and ono of them is being
cultivated at the Government botanic
garden, adjacent to the Capitol building
on the avenue.
Probably plant that attracts as
much attention as any in the White
House conservatory is a small red one,
which is named the artillery plant,
from peculiar habit that it has One
Of the branches containing small, red
buds If dampened in water will cause .
swelling and bursting, the pollen pop
ping into the air like the smoke puffs
from cannon. After all the buds havo
burst the plant looks as If fine white
snow had fallen upon the blooms, which
are shaped not unlike small Maltese
crosses.-Cor. N. Y. Sun.