IN FLORIDA 155 
to the ground and sustain the plant. Charles Kingsley states 
that such is the vital force of the blossoms that they actually 
give off heat which may be measured with a thermometer. The 
fruit is covered with hexagonal scales and the pulp is very fine, 
having a flavor of pineapples and bananas, as well as a charac- 
teristic one of its own. There is, however, a thorn with this 
rose, for the rachis of the fruit is armed with slender, very sharp 
spicules that easily break. off and he who eats it must be very 
careful. The leaves are full of large natural holes, sometimes 
to the number of a hundred, and scientists have been puzzled 
to know what they were for. Dr. John Gifford of Cocoanut 
Grove, who is something of a wag, informed me some time ago 
that they were created by nature to save the insects the trouble 
of cutting them. I have measured leaves here that were three 
feet four inches wide and four feet long! 
Musa, Plantain, Banana. These plants are among the most 
glorious ornaments of the tropics even if they are everywhere 
common. The plantain for some reason does not flourish in 
lower Florida, but the fruiting bananas do fairly well under 
favorable conditions. The Orinoco or Horse Banana does well, 
even on pine land if it is well fed, though it, like all of them, 
prefers rich, damp soil. It is cultivated all over the state for 
ornament and even up into Georgia and the Gulf states, where 
it occasionally goes through mild winters with little damage and 
fruits the following summer. Hart’s Choice or Lady Finger, is a 
somewhat hardy form while the Cavendish or Dwarf is quite 
tender. 
Phyllanthus emblica, Myrobalan. One of the most exquisitely 
graceful trees I have ever seen. As I sit here writing the morn- 
ing breeze is gently waving the wand-like branches of a beautiful 
specimen just across the lawn, and it rivals the most elegant of 
the bamboos. My tree has proven to bearapid grower and has 
stood some frost without injury although it is a native of Tropical 
Asia. It bears round, green fruits the size of a marble which 
are used for preserving. P. distichus, Otaheite Gooseberry, 
is also a fine ornamental, having long, incurved pinnate leaves 
which are brownish when young. ‘The white-ribbed, very acid 
fruit is used in lower Florida for marmalade and sauce. 
