The morning news., 1894-11-25
MARyELS OF PLANT LIFE.
sumatra's Wonderful Giant Flowers
Measuring Four Feet a cross.
From ID New OrIeans Plcavnne.

From the New Orleans Picayune.
The development of plant life is page
from the wonderland of natural history.
At the beginning of line we have mi
croscopic plants that are difficult to dis
tinguish from animals; at the end we
might place the giant redwoods or the
colossi of the Calaveras grove-trees cen
turtles old that tower high in the air hun
dreds of feet above the pines and others
that look up to them as the giants Of
plant life
Giants are found in the ranks of animal
life; but they do not attract so much at
tention or appeal to us as abnormally
large plants. 1 shall never forget the
feeling 1 experienced when in the Cali
fornia coast range / entered an ancient
grove of redwoods The giants that prob
ably saw the ships of Drake, and possibly
the caravels Of Cabullo in 1912, were gone
cut down ana burned; but from the outer
circle of the trunks had grown a eirdIe
Of younger trees, one hundred feet high
in some cases that stood extending their
limbs and branches in the vast hollow
space that once marked the interior
Of the parent tree. / did not measure
the trunk space of the old trees, but each
inclosure would have held a large house.
OF TWO OF lttIee uuuQTeu people could
have crawled into it,
one Of the most remarkable discoveries
sensational in every particular, comes
from Sumatra Some years ago several J
botanists were travelling through the
country in search of new things in plant
life, when the natives told them Of a
gigantic flower, describing it in such
weird terms that they at first did not
believe the account; but one day Dr. Ar
mold, one of the party, came upon the
wonder. He was not only amazed but
dumbfounded the strange object that
met his view making a profound i'm
preston upon him. Later he said: ITO
tell the TRUTH had I been alone and
there had been no witnesses, I should,
I think, have been fearful Of mention
ing the dimensions of this flower so
much does it exceed every flower ] have
ever seen or heard Of"
Passing from the bush to some trees.
the disCoyerer was confronted by gi-
gantlc flower apparently growing alone,
without leaves or yerdure. from the
ground The petals, nve in number.
were thick ana heshy, over an inch in
thickness. while the center presented
the appearance OF "A bowl from which
projected curious spikes. The entire
flower wac nearly four feet across: each
petal weighed almost three pounds, and
the entire flower. n it could have been
held up, would have entirely concealed
the person holding b.. The flower weighed
Boo some specimens twenty-five or thirty
pounds The nectary alone could catch
Hul hold twelve pinta Of water
Tho new discovery was startling boo many
ways ~ WAS "a flower without leaves or
anything hut thc attachment to The eHrfh
.s complete puzllf-Hnl lt looked lll.e "a
gigantic toadsl90l ihht bod taken thr form
.I nup.r Tipping one OF thp flowers.
If $500 found ihat it grew from delicate.
IrHHr.r HfHm n0t lafFrr Ihan $3.50 Iufnfs.
.Hi ras. iu short H wonderful flower rar.
...fr sruWIUE ffum uHe body Hf % hurr
HHr fhHf BOZ furH Sound Hhalt fh. fr.rs
H fHr fIT..f
I.. .Iort of nma t4err Has received