PLANTS 



has proved to be one of the best plants we have 

 for that purpose. It is generally known as 

 Norfolk Island Pine. It has an evergreen 

 foliage which resembles to some extent that of 

 our native Hemlock and that of the Balsam, 

 and yet it is quite unlike either. The leaves, 

 or " needles," with which its branches are 

 thickly set are short and extremely plentiful 

 and surround the stalk. They are a very dark 

 green color. The branches are produced in 

 whorls. Each whorl, as a general thing, has 

 five branches, but occasionally there will be 

 seven or eight; I have never seen more. When 

 the whorl is five-branched you see a perfect, 

 five-pointed green star as you look down upon 

 the plant. The branches are very regular and 

 symmetrical in development. None of them 

 ever outgrows the others, therefore symmetry 

 characterizes the plant in all stages of its 

 growth. A young plant is a perfect tree in 

 miniature, and a plant eight or ten feet tall is 

 equally as perfect in shape. Because of its 

 star-shaped whorls of branches it has been 

 given the name of Star Pine by some, while 

 other dealers advertise it as the Christmas-tree 

 Pine. Large plants make excellent substi- 

 tutes for the ordinary Christmas-tree in the 



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