The herald., 1894-08-28
A TREE WITH A TEMPER.

It Grows In Arizona With Another That
Gives Light Like an Electric Lamp.
"There are more queer things to the
acre in Arizona than in any other part
Of this wide land, said Colonel Brace
Dion Of Houck's Tank, Apache county.
land, according to my idea, and l know
pretty near what queer things are, tho
queerest thing in all Arizona is the
tree that has temper worse than
blond comic opera prima donna's and
gets its dander up with just as small
provocation. They tell me ont there
that this tree belongs to the conifegous
species. 1t grows to be something like
25 feet high and then stops. Its leaves
are long, slender and pointed. like por-
cupine quills. When this tree is in
good humor, these leaves lie close to tho
branches, and it spreads pleasant aro.
matte odor all around. But when it is
angry every leaf on tho tree rises up on
end, and the aspect Of that particular
piece of timber is about as fierce and
threatening as anything you would care
to look at. The pleasant resinous odor
the tree sent forth i'll its peaceful mood
gives way to an odor that will put wings
on your feet to place as much distance
as you can between the offensive tree
and yourself.
''This tree is very touchy on the sub
ject of dogs, and the coming of a canine
anywhere near it will instantly make
it furious. Yet wolf, q grizzly bear
or mountain lion never ruffies tho tenn
per of this tree if those animals do not
presume on too great familiarity with
it. They may lie around it as long as
they care to, but if one Of them SO far
forgets itself as to rub or scratch the
trunk of the tree the hot tempered thing
will fly into one Of its tantrums in-
stantly, and tho way Mr.. Bear, Wolf Or
Lion will make himself scarce in those
parts is whole circus to see Nothing
will work this tree up to concert pitch,
though, SO quick and effectually as
throwing stones at it. Then it will ac-
tually rip and tear, and no living thing
would think of going within gunshot CT
it, Some folks out at Houck's Tank call
this tree the porcupine tree, and some
say its right nalne is skunk tree. l call
it the holy terror tree. But, no matter
what you call it, it is queer job of
nature, and Arizona claims it as her
own.
"While this tree is the only real,
genuine vegetable kingdom crank we've
got in Arizona, we point with some
more pride to another tree that only
Arizona soil has the talent to produce.
This one is the electric light tree. This
tree is not as abundant as the holy ter
ror tree and is a dwarf, seldom having
the courage to got more than 12 feet
high. Its foliage is very dense, and at
night it CLEANS like an arc light. The
light that shines from this treeis SO
strong that one may sit 20 feet away
and read fine print. The queerost point
of this tree is that its light begins to
grow dim with the coming of the new
moon and steadily loses brilliancy until
the moon is full. Then the. tree is as
dark as mine. When the moon begins
to wane, the trees luminosity is gradu-
ally renewed, and by the time the moon
has disappeared the tree is shining again
as brightly as ever. Sometimes the light
on this queer tree becomes faint even
in the dark Of the moon. Then we have
to do queer thing to restore it. We
drench it with a bucketful or two OF
water, and instantly the effulgent glow
will return in all its brillianoy. New
York Sup