GETTING AC^AINTED WITH THE TREES 



delicately sweet yellow flowers, seemingly clus- 

 ters of lemon -colored threads, are the very last 

 to bloom, opening bravely in the very teeth of 

 Jack Frost. They are a delight to find, on the 

 late fall rambles ; and the next season they are 

 followed by the still more curious fruits, which 

 have a habit of suddenly opening and fairly 

 ejaculating their seeds. A plucked branch of 

 these fruits, kept in a warm place a few hours, 

 will show this — another of nature's efficient 

 methods for spreading seeds, in full operation — 

 if one watches closely enough. The flowers and 

 the fruits 'are on the tree at the same time, just 

 as with the orange of the tropics. 



Speaking of a tropical fruit, I am reminded 

 that the greatest nut of all, though certainly 

 not an American native, is nevertheless now 

 grown on American soil. Some years ago a 

 grove of lofty cocoanut palms in Yucatan fas- 

 cinated me, and the opportunity to drink the 

 clear and refreshing milk (not milky at all, 

 and utterly different from the familiar contents 

 of the ripened nut of commerce) was gladly 

 taken. Now the bearing trees- are within the 

 bounds of the United States proper, and the 



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