Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-04-06
CURIOSITIES OF PLANT LIFE.
The hop grows wild in Europe, from
Norway to Italy.

| SSntS0ts tstCo OF TLHNi IiFC'
| The hop grows wild in Europe, from
Norway to Italy.
The roots OF a tree are often as ex.
tensive as its branches.
The watermelon is indigenous to
Africa and grows best under the
equator.
The common spinach is the only
plant that has emigrated from New
Zealand.
The beet is indigenous to the shores
of the Mediterranean, where it still
grows wild.
The garden radish is supposed to
be d Chinese plant which came West
by way OF India.
Every tree has reserve buds" which
deFelop at point where limb has
been cut off.
The orange grows wild all over
tropical Asia, and is everywhere re.
garded as indigenous.
The cabbage is development of a
common sea weed which grows wild
on every coast Of Europe.
The most useful of trees which
have milky juice is the ficus elastica,
which produces India rubber.
The Irish potato grows wild in the
mountains of Chile and Peru, where
it is undoubtedly indigenous.
The tallow tree is an odd product of
China. Its fruit is in clusters of
three nuts each. the stones being sur
rounded by a substance very much
like tallow.
The Chinese cultivate dwarf oaks
and pines, perfect trees in every par
ticular, but from six inches to a foot
high. The result is attained by root
pruning.
The COW tree of Venezuela gives an
excellent article of milk. 1t has a
clese chemical affinity to animal milk,
the butter being represented by a
white wax.
The Jerusalem artichoke did not
come from Jerusalem at all. 1t is
known to be an American plant,
growing wild in many parts of the
western hemisphere.
The sugar cane is mentioned by
Strabo as known in India as early AS
325 B. Z. 1t was then used in its
raw state, no method being known of
extracting the sugar.
A single plant of wheat will often
produce 1000 seeds in one season; .
sunfiower will yield 1000; q poppy,
$4,000; . tobacco plant, $4,000; a
splean wort, 100000.
The sweet potato is supposed to
be an American plant, but is now
cultivated all over the tropical world.
1t is a leading article of diet in the
center OF the Dark Continent.
Australia claims to grow the tallest
trees in the world. They are a species
of marsh gum, and some are said to
exceed 300 feet in hight. The Cali
fornia "big trees" attain about the
same hight.
Acre for acre land is said TO yield
more when planted in bananas than
in any other variety of food produc-
ton. The product of an acre of
bananas is 133 times as great as that
of an acre of wheat.
The sago commerce is made from
the trunk of a palm tree. 1t is said
to be most extraordinary sight to
see the trunk of . large tree cut down
and in few hours wholly converted
into food.
No part of the earth is absolutely
sterile. Plant life exists alike in the
eternally frozen regions of the North
and on the SUBMITS Of the mountains
where organic life is sometimes
deemed impossible.
Grains of wheat found in Egyptian
mummy cases have been known to
germinate after lying idle dormant
for three thousand years. The plant
they produced is almost identical with
the wheat grown in Egypt at the
present time.
The breadfruit of Otaheite is most
valuable of this species. It's fruit
ripens during eight months of the
year and the prepared fruit, slightly
dried, supports the natives during the
remainder. It tastes much like
mashed potatoes and sweet milk.
The banyan tree is q grove OF itself.
Its branches send out stringy fila
ments which finally reach the ground;
take root and become trunks. One
such tree in India has 400 main
trunks and 5000 smaller. An Eng
lish army of 1000 men has been
sheltered at one time under its
branches.