88 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



the close of November. Silvery white, with golden anthers 

 and sinuate-lobed glaucus foliage, the flowers are enchant- 

 ing. This Mexican species grows in pure sand on the 

 beach where the sun is unobstructed. Also it volunteers, 

 higher up, on land more fertile and solid; always in the 

 sun ; never in the shade. 



HOW BRAZIL NUTS GROW 

 By H. E. Zimmerman. 



"DRAZIL nuts are commonly known as "cream nuts" and 

 "^"^ "nigger toes." They are the seeds of a majestic and 

 beautiful tree which grows to the height of 100 to 120 feet 

 in the Mandrucu country of Brazil. The nuts are compactly 

 arranged within the pericarp (shown in the illustration) like 

 the sections of an orange. When these pericarps, nearly as 

 large as a man's head, are stripped of their fibre, they look 

 like cocoanuts. They do not burst and let out their nuts, but, 

 when ripe, fall to the ground, where they have to be broken 

 open by force in order to get the nuts within. They are so 

 thick and hard, that it requires a sledge-hammer blow to break 

 them open. It is a very dangerous thing to walk under such 

 a tree, for, if one of the pericarps were to strike one on the 

 head it would probably mean instant death ; or if it fell on 

 another part of the body it might break a bone or injure the 

 person seriously. Even the monkeys will not risk going 

 beneath these trees during the season when the nuts fall to 

 the ground. 



In order to gather these nuts all at one time, the Mandrucu 

 Indians are compelled to take certain risks. If he climbs the 

 tree to dislodge the nuts he is likely to overlook one, which 

 may be the very one to fall and strike him while subsequently 



