Evening star., 1921-07-10

the north by the Bartholdi
fountain and on the south by the
quaint cottage where the late Will
liam r. Smith lived and collected his
Burnsiana and cherished his bonnie
blue bell of Scotland on the rockery
hard by. and which is now surround
ed by pansies, just pansies, hundreds
of them-in this big. glass house is the
place where the palm and the pine
meet The pine is from Nepaul. and II
it were not plainly marked coulter
it would never be taken for cousin
Of our tall forest tree. The palms
have foregathered from the remotest
parts of the globe to tell us their Story
of wonderful beauty and service. hlng
of trees has the palm been called, ana
if service is royalty the palms nave
much to prove their claim.
Strange plants are here. nowhere
else to be found in all this country,
and they are almost all Vaiuaple 70
man, selected, indeed. for their rec
tree from China, the coffee plant from
Arabia, the bread tree. the sugar palm.
the black pepper tree-a break1ast
ready to hand. SO to speak.
The coffee plant is the one when
makes itself most at home: 1t grows
fruits impetuously and necessarily,
with both bloom and fruit on the tree
at the same time, like the orange, 30
that it suggests to the observer tnal
a man with a big greenhouse IKE tnis
could make success OF raising conte
for commerce, even this far north.
That is, so far as the plant Is con
cerned; what labor it might take
would be another question.
One palm robes its stem in woven
cloth that resembles coarse canvas.
The appearance is rather ragged. TO
be sure. Nevertheless. the tree Is a
true weaver. Across from 1t IS the pm
palm from Colombia, from the lower
side of whose leaves and stalk depend
slender black glossy spines lot the
world like our common pms ana OF
fineness and tirmness TO make the most
delicate cambria needle despair.
All know, of course. that the travel
er's tree of Madagascar Will yieid'
when it's leaf base is tapped. a de-
. licious drink of fresh water, but do
YOU Know that it blooms? AS it rarely
flowers, this is rather red-letter 0c-
casion in the big glass house. The
palm is Il slender little tree, but II Is
very strong. Where the natives ma a
group of four or five such they make
a kind of cage from the tough fbers
of one and suspend it from the tops
of the others. using vine to cllmo
to this improvised home. The vine Is
drawn up at night and the occupants
| of the houses are as safe as inc
monkeys and the parrots.
uERE is the Panama hat palm, and
L the fibers of commerce are yield
ed by the stalk. Its near and appro-
pirate companion is the umbrella tree.
From the travellers tree. with its cup
| nj a nf a
| ity, it is not far to the pulQue or
! and leaves give the sparkling white
meScal, of which the less said the
| better. pleased will the prohibitionists
| be.
But it is little Paraguay who can
! boast the finest offering OF all to the
| thirsty palate. Not. tea, coffee, clear
water nor mescal can work the miracle
| of the Paraguay tea. n few leaves In
fused in boiling water supplies drink
which Will sustain a man for hours
| without food or water. The Indian
who had long jurney before him
over the desert on foot prepared his
| tea, allowing half pint for each
! twenty-f five miles he had to go. and he
finished his journey without feeling
| hunger, thirst or fatigue, nor do any
| evil effects follow the use of this
| amazing stimulant. 1t contains no al
cohol. This tree is an lick. and much
| resembles our own Hex, the holly.
Turn from drink to food, and the
date palms claim first place. although
| an immense banana tree might offer
some objections. The tall Persian
date palm is now passe, we are
told. The Fow-growing Indian date
palms that do not need to be climbed
for their fruit are preferred. and ex-
periments with these are now being
made in Arizona.
I To- Rp a1nft
on a stiff stalk far above our heads.
| it's fruit shaped like boys cylin-
| drical top-the fig in our southern
states is shaped like a peg top-and
there is surprise for any one who
stops to- observe wee vine clinging
lichenwise on a low stone pillar. That.
| too, is a fig; can you believe it? 1t 10
the creeping fig Of China, one Of the
dependent relatives of family best
known to US through its sturdy and
outstanding members.
| All Chinese palms may be recognized
by their spread of leaf. The plume
palm of Brazil is beautiful beyond de-
scription. and it will probably forfeit
! it's life If the greenhouse is taken
away, for it reaches nearly to the
domed roof. Up near where the leaves
begin on one palm is seen a small.
perfectly shaped canoe, about a foot
| in length. upside down. This Is seed
pod, from which the seed has but re-
Gently fallen. 1t projects at right an
giles from the trunk. the lower edge
opening slowly when the seed is ripe,
This is the canoe palm Of Brasil.
1 A snakelike plant. destitute OF
leaves, will put forth both leaves and
an attractive flower later. From this
flower the French make one of their
finest perfumes. The regal fern OF
Mexico is the giant Of the fern fam
lily. 1t is really tree, and is a left
over from the paleontologic ages. II
you are not looking closely you may
fail to observe that its great root
mass. as large as the trunk Of tree
is not potted or buried in the earth
but merely rests upon a rock. Yet Its
fronds reach up in rivalry with the
| leaves Of the palms. Another tramp
of the vegetable kingdom, with nc
visible means Of support. is the vanil-
la plant, a big orchid. which grows
contentedly swung from any handy
/ tree branch.
The wee mimosa of Texas and the
imegamimosa of Mexico and q mum
ber of intermediate members Of the
| family are scattered about The Inca
mimosa of Peru has the largest flow
er of all this dainty family.
\ 4 \
1.-THE incense tree from India mods
4 1