The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-09-15

flowers for the third night, or a few
that anticipate the general blossoming-
then there will be a rest while a new
crop of buds develop. The flowers are
provided each with a score of stigmas
and thousand stanens-I have counted
them more tnan once, rnyself-they are
visited by swarms OF honey bees and by
other insects, and yet very rarely indeed
is fruit matured Only twice in thirty
years, | believe has fruit appeared, a
very few each time, on the hedge | have
Just spoken of
But trees vie with vines and humber
plants in decking themselves IN lively
colors. With us in the temperate zone,
the poisoning time of tree is.of neces-
sity short, and it must come generally
not later than June or earlv July. The
flowers, if colored at all, are generally
white. the tulip tree, Judas tree, and a
few Rosaeeae forming the principal ex-
ceptions. Among tropical trees the col
ors are often brilliant, and the blossom
ing season may be greatly prolonged,
and trees of the same species do not
necessarily put forth their blossoms the
same week or the same month.
1t is trees of the Cassia family, Caesal-
pineae, especially that light up with
color the spacious grounds about Homo
lulu residences. Fellows are perhaps
the most ommon. The species of cassia
which are shrubs or shrubby vines rather
than trees have all yellow flowers, and
many of them are perennial boomers.
The Caesalpinlas are sometimes shrubs,
sometimes large trees, the blossoms be-
ing commonly yellow. A very beautiful
tree of this genus is the yellow poinciana,
<~f(, ffN7fa he
ample flower clusters giving place to
purple pods, so numerous as to give the
whole tree their ruddy hue.
The Bauhinias. sturdy climbers or
small trees, remarkable for their two
lobed leaves (whence named for the
two brothers Bauhin), give preference
to pink and red rather than to yellow:
In the ST Thomas tree, the petals of
the snowy. flowers have crimson spots
on a paler ground. having been sprinkled
according TO tradition with the blood of
the martyred saint.
Very conspicuous throughout the SUM
ner months is the tree known in Homo
lulu as the golden shower, or more pro-
saically as the pudding stick tree-to
medical men familiar as Purglng cass1a,
Cathartocarpus fstula. The foliage IS
comparatively scanty, consisting OF pm
nate leaves with large entire leaflets.
The cylindrical, deen brown pods, fifteen
inches or more in length and three
fourths of an inch in diameter, are
rather ornamental than otherwise, as
they sway with every breeze. In spring
the buds appear in dropping pamcles,
and then for four months there IS a con-
tinuous succession of the pure primrose
Yellow fragrant blossoms that Justify
the popular name of the tree. The pc
tails which are of a delicate, rich color,
are really coarse in texture; this explains
why they last as they do ten days or
fortnight without noticeable change.
Another tree allied to the Purging
Cassia, and called Horse Cassia, has tolI-
age resembling that of the locust, al
though the leaves are larger and the
huge, rough, club-like pods are eighteen
to twenty inches long, and more than an
inch in diameter; but in this species, the
blossoms which remind one OF those OF
the Judas tree last only few weeks
A third allied species has tonnage
very similar to that just described, only
that the heavy fronds have a peculiarly
graceful droop The pods IN external
appearance resemble those OF Purging
Cassia In the latter the pod has trans
verse diaphragnls separating the SEEDS
which are embedded in pulp. In this
species each seed is enclosed in a tiny
box, shaped just like pill box, OF
woody texture. yet with walls not thick
er than Bristol board. These little cells
lie inside the pod exactly like so many
coins rolled up in brown paper. ne
flowers are produced in clusters which
closely surround the boughs of the pre-
vious vear'S Growth They resemble IN