Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-11-28
PECULIAR PLANTS.
ATTRACTIONS OF THE WHITE
HOUSE CONSERVATORY.
a Big Old Sage Palma Lily With
Leaves Five Feet III Diameter
Tho Artillery Plant
Venus FIytrap.


House conservatory, aud the history of
some OF them is decidedly interesting to
visitors who arc permitted to inspect this
attachment to the Executive Mansion at
Washington. Probably the plant to
which the gardeners are most attached is
the big sago palm, the ngc Of which is
liked Mt $50 years. 1t was from time i'm
memorial one of the attractions of Wash.
ington's conservatory mt Mount Vernon.
and before his death he presented it to
friend in Baltimore, who made special
ty of collecting palms. Upon the death
OF the Baltimorean his estate was settled,
and gardener from the White House re-
ceiVed the precious sage palm. For up
ward OF forty years it has been located be-
tween the doors leading into the State din
ing room and the private corridor ut the
base OF the stairway used by the family
OF the White House, and it is usually the
ilrst object to greet the visitors going
from the mansion. One popularity no,
ticcd about the plant is that one year it
Will throw out a crown of leaves, prob
ably fifty or sixty in number, and the
succeeding year it will content itself
with Towering. When the foliage is full.
rs Mt present, the plant measures twelve
iect in diameter, and the trunk has n
diameter of fourteen inches. Almost at
tile base of the big square box containing
the sage is large earthcn pot from which
springs beautiful aud novel cluster of
leaves known us the Australian birds
nest fern, the leaves being from three to
four feet long and attaining a width of
six to ten inches. AS its name implies,
this fern is u favoritc with birds who do
not care to be troubled about gathering
materials for their nests, but find an
agreeable substitute already formed of
the hirsutc attachment from which the
leaves appear to spring. In this soft
hairy bed eggs arc deposited, and when
Matched the brood leaves for other quar-
ters and the nest only awaits another &C.
cupant.
Several years ago Gardener Pfstcr re-
ccivcd from friend in Brazil rare
specimen of the orchid family, which he
treated with the attention it deserved.
Upon opening the package he discovered
Seeding OF some sort astray, and he
took personal charge of it, and was
abundantly rccompcnscd for his trouble.
1t turned out to be magnificent lily,
the botanic name being Anthurium
ventricosum, and it thrivcd remarkably
under the course Of treatment prescribed
by the White House gardener Suisse.
qucntly 1t was asccrtaincd that only one
other specimen of this lily is owned outside
OF Brazil, and that is by the Kew Garden
ut London, England. Botanists and
those who make II speciality of rare plants
value the find ut upward of $1,000, and
the flower, which is q creamy white.
spotted at the base with maroon, has
fragrant odor not unlike that of mag
nolin grandiflora. 1t is now in not
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 one of them is being
cultivated at the Government botanic
Garden, adjacent to the Capitol. building,
on the avenue.
Probably plant that attracts n. much
attention us any in the White House CON
scrvatory is Il small red one, which il
named the artillery plant, FROM pecu
liar Iaait That it--A l.:.s. 2ae 3
branches, containing small red buds, IL
dnmpencd in water will cause e swelling
and bursting, the pollen popping into the
mir like the smoke pulfs from cannon.
After all the buds have burst the plant
looks rs if Il fine white snow had fallen
upon the blooms, which arc shaped moi
unlike small Maltese crosses.
Clinging closely to the brick walls of
tho orchid house, which is on the west
of the big conservatory, there is curious
looking running plant, the leaves OF
which appear to have been pasted against
the walls and smoothcd out. This is the
famous single plant, native of the
West Indies, and said to possess diuretic
qualities. Its leaves are n deep green
and egg shaped, and it justly ranks as
ono of the curiosities of the vegetable
kingdom when its tendency is shown to
interested spectators.
From South Carolina's lowlands con-
tribution has been made which is known
as the Venus fytrap, from the fact that
1t first imprisons and then kills flies, only
opening when the victim is dead. 1t Is
formed not unlike shell, and the edges
have hirsute growth which possess a
remarkable fascination for flies. They
will crawl into the soft material and en-.
deaVor te suck the sweets below, but the
plant closes over them, and when it I'M
folds the unwary flies fall off one side
deAd.
There arc also many varieties of
pitcher plants in these greenhouses, which
are termed insectiverous from the fnct
that they are very destructive to the
lives of their visitors. These plants can
be found all the way from South Caro-
lima to New jersey on the Atlantic coast,
and many of the varieties arc common in
California. Among the insectiverous
plants Mt the White House probably the
rarcst is the nepentes, native of the
East Indies, and which is said to contain
pepsin in its pitchcr-likc cell. French
savants are conducting series of exper-
iments now with these plants, and it is
stated that their contents will be found
highly beneficial to dyspeptics. Usually