THE PLANT WORLD 75 



The stump of a Calaveras tree, cut down in 1853, measured 27 feet inside 

 the bark, and the age of the tree is estimated as about 1300 years. Mr. 

 John Muir states that a tree of similar diameter cut down in Kings River 

 grove was 2200 years old. He mentions another tree of the same grove 

 as being 4000 years old, and probably over, as all the rings could not be 

 clearly counted. Probably none of the Calaveras or Stanislaus grove 

 trees are older than this, and most likely the majority are under 2500 

 years. 



Thirty plates illustrate the classification of the lands, the trees, lakes, 

 canyons, etc., of the region. The scattered information concerning the 

 rate of the growth of forest trees has also been collected in tabular form 

 and discussed by Mr. Gannett. 



AN INTERESTING AROID. 



Pliilodendron fenestratum or Monstera deliciosa — rarely does a 

 plant rejoice in two such well-merited names. This tall Mexican member 

 of the Araceae has immense dark green, glossy, leatherlike leaves, two 

 feet long and almost as wide, terminating a stem even longer. These 

 leaves are ornamented with numbers of clean cut holes, so large that 

 they can easily be used as windows, as the name suggests. The ques- 

 tion naturally arises, is there a purpose in these openings, or are they 

 the result of an accident ? So far as we can learn, they are simply one 

 of the innumerable ways in which Nature adorns her handiwork. 



The yellowish white spathe and the ten-inch long spadix at once 

 betrays the kinship with the Calla and other Aroids. The fruit looks 

 like a long green pine cone, the rind being composed of hexagonal 

 plates. As the fmit ripens, it takes on a slightly yellow tinge, and the 

 outer rind falls off at a touch. It is said to taste like a mixture of pine- 

 apple and banana, and is unanimously voted delicious. The name 

 Blonstera is given because of the long aerial roots emitted by the stem, 

 many of which never reach the ground, but suggest the fingers of some 

 fabulous monster. This grotesque dragon-like aspect is very pronounced 

 in a notable specimen in Philadelphia, which has climbed into an upper 

 gallery of the highest house in Horticultural Hall, Fairmount Park, 

 Quite a number of these plants can be seen in the Central Park green- 

 houses. A monkey climbing up on one of them presents the idea that 

 from them the natives were taught to appreciate the lusciousness of the 

 fruit. Although it naturally grows by attaching itself to trees and climb- 

 ing up, it appears to be more fruitful if forced to grow on the ground 

 without climbing. — Pauline Kaufman, New Ym^k City. 



