The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1909-03-06
FLORAL TREASURES
Some Of Natures Beauiifisrs in the
Valley

To The Herald:
It has become so general to hear
newcomers to this region exclaim af-
ter a superficial observation, or none
at all, that There are no ornamental
native plants in this country-noth-
ing but weeds and shrubs with
thorns, that to correct this errone-
Gus impression and to show up to
the doubling Thomases what really
does exist here, and Astounding within
a radius of a few miles of Browns
vile, has actuated the remarks that
follow concerning several of our most
noteworthy floral treasures.
Blooming now. and cultivated in
many of the yards of the city, as we'll
as abundantly distributed along the
river, and about the various resacas
of the vicinity, is the blue-fowering
shrub known in scientific. parlanee as
sophora secundifloFa. but locally, as
Evergreen Coral Bean; which but a
few years since, foreign horticultural
savants were eager to purchase the
seed of. at almost its weight in gold.
The plant is better known now and
more generally cultivated abroad,
but as yet, in Texas, its merits are al
most unheralded. Notwithstanding
this, think that ere many years have
passed, it viii have come into its own.
1t reaches a height of thirty feet,
which we will admit is rather more
than the usual run of arborescent
!, /, >
blooms when but few years old. and
if kept trimmed to bush form. will
prove very good substitute for the
lac of northern ATTITUDES. The flow
ers come in small punches or racemes,
are intensely fragrant; and the indi-
vidual flower is pea shaped. Indeed
the plant belongs to the great bean
family which, with the aster or sun
flower group, greatly predominant in
the Lower Sonorean zone; which
may remind you is the region desig-
mated by biologists as the zone or ter
ritory lying just above the tropical
belt. The pods this shrub produce
are hard and woody. several inches in
length and persistent-that is, hang
ing to the parent plant many months
after the seed has matured. This pod
encases several large seeds of nearly
half an inch in diameter, that are
dark red in color. and extremely pois-
onous if eaten, although apparently
harmless to handle 1t is recorded
that the Indians of the section where
the plant is native, used the seed,
ground to meal, much as we do
strychnine
Another member of our floral aris-
tocracy here. known and cherished
among the Mexican inhabitants of
both sides of the Rio Grande. is a
tree of moderate size, known COM
monty as the Anacahuita, and botan-
ically as Cordia Boisierri 1t bears
flowers nearly throughout the year,
and in particular abundance in the
late spring, when to my fancy. it has
no equal among tropical American
Towering trees, unless we except the
famed magnolia of our southern
states. The magnolia though, cannot
be compared to the Anacahuita. when
adaptability OF the conditions, eli
matte and otherwise, that control this
section, are considered The anaca-
huita is tolerably common in and
about Brownsville, but parts OF the
state of Tamaulipas, Mexico, is the
center of it's real abundance The
railroad between Matamoros and
Monterey. passes through great for
ests of this species. and at a certain
time of the year, the month of May
for example, an otherwise tedious trip
is enlivened by Unreasonable masses
of the white miniature trum-
pets, distilling their fragrance on the
heat encountered air PeriADs the
finest tree of its kind within the linn
its of our city, is TO be found upon
property belonging to the New Miller
Hotel, growing to the left of the main
entrance to that hostelry. This spec
linen has attracted the attention OF
unnumbered guests, and the en-
comiums to its beauty have
been many. So we trust its
splendor will not be allowed to be-
come impaired. by the campaign OF
| improvement that has reached ouf
town. 1t has been stated that all
parts of the plant are aromatic.
know that the inhabitants of Tamaul
| lpcS fdiuS II greatly IOl IOuSn iSlu-
edies They also eat the fruit, which
possesses a flavor peculiar to itself
and which have found difficult to ac-
quire. but a jelly can be produced
from the stewed fruits that is fine
superior to some of our time honored
preserves of honorable ancestry-try
it
The species grows readily from
seed. and although of rather SLOW
growth at first, it will, say in four OF
five years. make respectable shrub
and a tree to be proud Of
A tree of moderate size that grows
here as a native, and which should
and often does attract the attention
of visitors is the Retama or Parkin-
sonia 1t is found pretty generally
throughout the warm countries of tee
world now, either as native or else
a naturalized citizen, which speaks
| for its adaptibility to most anv CON