CURIOUS TREES 179 



The flowers are white, something like those of 

 the eucalyptus. They develop into a thin-skinned 

 fruit, covered with green hairs and about the size 

 of a small cocoanut. It contains a flour-like powder 

 of acrid taste which mixes well with water to form 

 a pleasant, thirst-quenching drink. The fruit of 

 the African species hangs on a slender two-foot 

 cord much like an electric light bulb. In that coun- 

 try, small families often find comfortable living 

 quarters within the decayed interior of a hollow 

 baobab trunk. 



Australia, whose flora is quite different from any 

 other place in the world, is also the home of the beef 

 tree, which yields wood the colour of a raw steak; 

 the grass tree, which in lieu of foliage has green 

 hair-like growths all over its trunk ; and the fire and 

 flame tree which at certain times of the year blazes 

 with brilliant blossoms. 



Many trees are famous for the queer products 

 which they manufacture. A number of these are 

 described in the chapter with that heading. The 

 cow tree or palo de vaca is found in Venezuela. It 

 inhabits rocky soils of high altitude, and is reported 

 to be able to get along without moisture of any 

 kind for six or seven months. When rain does 

 come, it stores it up in the form of a thick, creamy 

 "milk" of a balmy odour. On being drawn from 



