774 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



(Casuarina equisetifolia), so called from the likeness of its long, 

 delicate branches to the hair of the cassowary, and equisetifolia, be- 

 cause its stems and leaves are like our common weed equisetum, or 

 horsetail. This tree is a native of the East, and is introduced now 



Cassowary Trees, Bat Street. 



through all tropical countries. The button tree (Thespesia popul- 

 nea) is thus called from its buttonlike fruit, and is common about the 

 town. 



The vegetation was new and curious to our Northern eyes, each 

 step revealing plants and trees hitherto unknown. How to know 

 them was a problem, because we were interested in these beautiful 

 surroundings, but could find no one who could give us reliable in- 

 formation. A few plants that were familiar to us in greenhouses in 

 the North grow in Nassau as common garden plants. Some that 

 we recognized were the poinsettia; oleanders, growing to the height 

 of twenty-five feet, with flowers varying from white to pink and 

 deep crimson ; hibiscus, with hundreds of blossoms on a single shrub ; 



