70 



HUTCHINSON'S POPULAR BOTANY 



song, consists of dense ag- 

 glomerations of rods or needles, 

 and is a most interesting ob- 

 ject for examination. So, too, 

 is the wax coating of the leaves 

 of the Banana (A/itsa), which 

 consists of little rods that stand 

 erect on the cuticle like so 

 many Lilliputian posts ; while 

 the "frosting" of leaves is 

 made up of tiny granules of 

 wax. 



It is worthy of remark how 

 much the production of these 

 and other secretions depends 

 upon the intensity of light and 

 heat. Plants that will grow 

 well enough in a climate very 

 different from that to which 

 they have been accustomed, 

 will, nevertheless, frequently 

 cease to form their peculiar 

 secretions, or at least produce 

 them in very diminished quan- 

 tities. This accounts for the 

 fact that the Tobacco grown 

 in this country is so vastly 



inferior to that grown, say, in Cuba or Persia ; and to the same cause may 

 be traced the great scarcity in English-grown roses of the fragrant attar 

 already spoken of, which is comparatively abundant in the flowers cultivated 

 for that product in India, Persia, and Roumelia. 



Most of the fragrant balms and balsams are the products of warmer 

 countries than our own in fact, some of those of greatest repute are 

 obtained from places that are hot and dry, such as Arabia and Somaliland. 

 Thus, the Frankincense (Olibanum) of the Bible narrative is a resin obtained 

 from species of Boswellia which grow in Arabia. It is obtained by making 

 cuts in the bark of the tree, from which the resin is poured out to stop the 

 entrance of parasites. When dried by the sun the resin is scraped off. 

 Other resins coming under the head of Frankincense are Galbanum from 

 Ferula galbaniflua, a Persian plant, and Storax from Styrax offidnale in the 

 Levant. Myrrh is the most ancient of all these aromatic substances : it 

 is obtained from a plant known as Commiphora myrrha, a native of 

 Arabia, also found in Eastern Africa. Balm of Gilead is obtained from 

 Balsamodendron gileadense, a tree of Palestine ; and Ladanum is a sticky 



Photo by] 



[/?. Step. 



FIG. 99. COWBANE (Cicuta virosa). 



An Umbelliferous plant that grows in watery places, and is highly 

 poisonous. About one-fourth the natural size. EUROPK. N. ASIA. 



