848 



THE NATURE BOOK 



of this is Poinsetiia pulchcrrima. The 

 flower is absohitely commonplace, but 

 the leaf-hke bract, which is often spoken 

 of as tlie flower, is large and coloured 

 vivid scarlet. Few true flowers are so 

 brilliant as this pseudo-blossom. The 

 common Arum lih' {calla or richardia) 

 is a familiar example of the peculiarity 

 now under consideration. The flower 

 is small, but the spathe is large and pure 

 white. The latter serves the purpose 

 of a flower admirably, and as the plant 

 is "in bloom" during the winter and 

 spring it is found extremely useful by 

 gardeners, and by those who decorate 

 rooms and churches. 



The warm house plant called the 

 " Flamingo flower" (Anihurium) has large 

 orange or scarlet spathes, and the green- 

 house wall plant Bougainvillea glabra 

 has bracts of a lovely satiny mauve hue 

 which are produced in such dense masses 

 as to hide the leaves. 



One other example may be given, and 

 that is " the largest flower in the world " 

 — Amorphophallus titanmn. The true 

 flowers are arranged on a spadix five feet 

 high. The spathe is from three to four 

 feet across. Only one leaf is produced, 

 and that may be twelve feet high and 

 fifteen feet across. 



Nature, then, has many plant wonders, 

 but her " Century plant," which blooms 

 regularly every hundred years, is a myth. 

 The reference is to Agave americana, 

 but the truth about it is that it dies 

 after flowering. Its peculiarity of only 

 blooming once is shared by some of the 

 hardy bamboos. There has been quite 

 an epidemic among these plants of recent 

 years, which have been dying off in various 

 parts of the country, but it is not a case 

 of disease. The plants have arrived at 

 their flowering stage, and their life \\-ork 

 is ended. 



Walter P. Wright. 



MLhLMiJKVAXTllhMUM TUVSCATELLl M. 



