204 



THE PLANT WORLD. 



of the grounds is a broad expanse of well-kept sod traversed by 

 a driveway bordered with palms. The lawn is set about the edge 

 with beds of showv-flowered plants or masses of shrubbery and 

 annuals, displaying" a pleasing' variety of foliage. Above the 

 borders are seen the tops of the trees in the further parts of the 

 garden, strange in form or gay with bloom, and above them 

 in turn rise the grass-clad hills which quite encircle the gardens, 

 and over the further summits of which fleecy clouds are often 

 rolling down to vanish in the dry air of the plains. The passing 

 of the seasons works but little change in the appearance of the 

 gardens ; in winter the Poincettias are at the height of bloom ; a 

 little later the papilionaceous tree ErytJiriiia iinibrosa is a con- 

 spicuous object with its gigantic clusters of scarlet flowers, and 

 it is closely followed by its rival in showy beauty, the Royal Poin- 

 ciana or " Flamboyante " of Madagascar. Both the purple and 

 the brick-red varieties of the Bougainvillea are grown, and may 

 be counted on for a display of color throughout the greater part 

 of the vear. With them, as with the Poincettia, the flowers them- 



FiG. 31. Residence nf the Director of Pulilic Gardens and Plantations. 



