CO THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 



vein and artery of plants. In our own country, and 

 strangely enough, in its most northern parts, we de- 

 rive from this sap one of the most valuable products 

 of the whole vegetable kingdom. Our sugar maple 

 (Acer saccharinum\ when tapped at the proper season, 

 pours forth its liquid sweetness at the rate of a bucket- 

 ful a day. This fluid, evaporated by gentle heat, 

 yields a brown, luscious syrup, which is afterwards con- 

 verted into diminutive sugar-cakes, and enters largely 

 into home-consumption as maple-sugar throughout 

 the whole northern portion of our Union. 



THE TRAVELLER'S TREE ( Urania Speciosd). 



This remarkable tree is found only on the island 

 of Madagascar ; it belongs to the Musacese and to 

 the same family of which the banana, the plantains 

 and the brilliant flowered strelitsias are members. 

 Unlike other palm-trees, they grow better in the 

 interior than upon the sea-shore ; and their appearance 

 produces an agreeable diversity among the bamboos, 

 with their feathery-tufted clusters. 



Travellers are unanimous in their grateful admira- 

 tion for this tree, which, hence, has obtained the pet 

 name of the Traveller's Tree. We are told that it 

 grows principally in regions where there is no water, 

 and that it has the admirable property of secreting for 

 travellers a limpid and refreshing supply of water. Its 

 large white leaves curve back towards the main trunk 

 and thus form cavities in which the water is gathered 

 and kept for the thirsty wayfarer. Some travellers have, 

 however, failed to meet with this hospitable wonder 



