106 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



Pogonia ophioglossoiclcs and set them on the islanrl where 

 the}' have established themselves, but this year I iound 

 the plants in considerable abundance in a bog about a 

 quarter of a mile from home. It is one of the prettiest 

 orchids of this region. Its flowers are very delicate in 

 substance and color. As a rule there is but one flower to 

 a stalk but occasionally there are two. It blooms about 

 June 30th. 



It is very interesting to watch the development of 

 these plants from the first appearance of the shoot in the 

 spring to the maturing of the seed in autumn. 

 Jamaica, Vermont. 



PORTO RICAN PALM HOUSES. 



BY O. \Y. BARRETT. 



THROUGHOUT the interior of Porto Rico one may see, 

 perched upon a hfllside or half hidden in a lowland 

 thicket, the typical hut of the native "jibaro," as the 

 town people call him. Now the "jibaro" (pronunced, 

 he'-bah-row) is not interested in modern architecture, 

 and he doesn't care how the Filipinos build their houses ; 

 he builds on the same old plan of his forefathers, though 

 of course he has improved considerably upon the methods 

 of the aboriginal Arawak Indians. 



In the first place he has his own palm to work with, 

 and it is unlike any other islander's palm in the world. 

 He calls it the "Yagua," but a governmen botanist 

 studied it carefullj^ three years ago and pronounced it 

 different from the royal palm of other localities, giving it 

 the name Roystonea borinquena. The trunk of this 

 species is of a grayish fawn color, straight, with one or 

 sometimes two swollen spaces about midway of its 

 length ; it reaches a height of thirty to sixty feet and lives 

 about half a century. Just beneath the crown of long, 

 dark green leaves is the smooth green portion of the trunk 

 composed of the bases of the leaves which enwrap each 

 other, and the "palmillo," or heart, which is really the 

 tender white terminal bud. The leaf-bases, or bud 



