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 be a rapid 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. 



