The Saman or Rain Tree 



WHENEVER there is an unusual drought in the 

 United States, paragraphs go the rounds in a 

 number of papers describing a most wonderful 

 tree growing in the forests of Peru that is said to possess 

 the remarkable property of absorbing the moisture from 

 the air and subsequently pouring it forth from its leaves 

 and branches in the form of rain. Other stories have it 

 that during the day the tree takes up a great deal of 

 water from the earth by means of the roots, and that 

 <luring the night it is again given ot¥ profusely through 



Federal and State governments that the experiment of 

 the culture of this remarkable tree in the more arid parts 

 of the country should be conducted with a view to the 

 benefit of agriculture. 



It is truly remarkaljle what a number of credulou-3 

 people who have read such exaggerated statements about 

 the water-transpiring qualities of the so-called Peruvian 

 rain tree have conceived the idea that it would be a suit- 

 able tree to plant in the arid Southwest, where droughts 

 are so common. It is true that the rain tree grows in 



■Courtesy of the Pan-American Union. 



A PICTURESQUE SAMAN TREE {AI,SO CALLED THli RAIN TRICE) CROWING IN TRINIDAD. BRITISH WEST INDIES 



■This is the tree which popular fancy believes has the faculty of absorbing moisture from the air and subsequently pouring it forth from its leaves 

 and branches in the form of rain. It is a magnificent tree, grows rapidly, and is indifferent to soil, thriving from sea level to 2,000 feet 



elevation, and accommodating itself to dry as well as wet locations, 

 branches covering an area of 150 feet in diameter. 



the leaves in drops of rain, says the Pan-American Union. 

 Some of the numerous stories which have been written 

 and published about this tree state that travelers in tropi- 

 cal America never pitch their tents under it on account 

 of the profuse dripping of water transpired by the leaves 

 during the night in such quantities that in many cases 

 the surrounding soil is converted into a veritable bog. It 

 is said to possess this singular power to a much greater 

 degree during the hot, dry weather, when the rivers are 

 at their lowest and the water most scarce. Accounts 

 similar to these are doubtless familiar to many. The 

 appearance of such articles in the papers is soon followed 

 by a number of recommendations and suggestions to the 



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In Trinidad it reaches a height of over 80 feet, with wide-spreading 



semiarid conditions in certain parts of Colombia and 

 Peru, but this does not argue that it would grow in New 

 Mexico and Arizona and that it would supply moisture 

 enough to grow crops in the vicinity of such plantations. 

 The truth of the matter is that this tree does not transpire 

 any more water than other trees with similar leaf sur- 

 faces. It is difficult to say how this legend ever origi- 

 nated. Some venture the conjecture that it may have 

 arisen from the fact that the crown of the rain tree is 

 open and the sun always shines through it to the ground, 

 so that the grass and some farm crops grow underneath 

 it almost as freely as in the open. This is a fact which 

 does not obtain in the case of other tropical trees. 



