THE I'lNK-APi'LE EAMILV. 37 



THE PINE=APPLE FAMILY. 



Ih'oiJicliacc(C. 



Chiefly herbs laifh fbrons roots^ growing on of her plants but not 

 parasitie, and ichieh bear elongated, entire or spinulose leaves, eoi'ered 

 mostly with a gieyis/i seurf ; and perfect, bracted Jlowers icdiieh are eitli. r 

 solitary or panieLd. Peiianth in tivo distinet sets ; three sepals and 

 three petals. 



LONG M0S5. FLORIDA MOSS. AIR PLANT. 



Tilli indsii i nsneo ides. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Pineapple. Yellowish or green. Scentless. Florida to Virginia. June-October. 



Flowers : regular, perfect, solitary or rarely two and sessile in the axils of the 

 leaves, with bracts at their bases. Pe7-iaiith : with three slender, greenish sepals 

 and three yellow petals. Slameiis : six, on the receptacle, or the three inner ones 

 inserted on the base of the petals. Stii^nias : three. Capsule : linear ; three-valvcd. 

 Leaves: scattered, or two-ranked; thread-like; linear-cuneate, elongated and 

 covered densely, as are the stems with a silvery grey scurf. Stcvi : one to two 

 feet lung, slender; branching; flexuous ; hanging in clusters from the branches of 

 trees. 



Who of the south does not know the long moss as it hangs in great 

 streamers from the branches of trees and gives to them a hoary look as of 

 great age. Many there are who admire it extravagantly and complain of 

 the nakedness of a scene where it does not grow ; btit others are conscious 

 of a certain weird melancholy it casts abroad as it waves in its pendulous 

 masses. Especially did this sensation seem to me prevalent along the 

 shores of the rivers in Horida, where it forms one of the principal features 

 of the vegetation. That the long moss is so wonderfully abundant is be- 

 cause its peculiar little seeds have long threads about their crown which, 

 when they are cast about by the breezes, catch hold of the trees and cling to 

 them until they germinate. 



The people gather this moss and, by a known process of rotting its out- 

 side, produce of the inner fibre a stuffing which is largely sold for use in 

 furniture. Indeed this industry has helped a good many natives in the way 

 of securing money. It is only about fourteen years ago that in Dade 

 County, where now stands the famous Palm licach hotel there were but 

 sixty voters, the area of the County being, however, little less than that of 

 the state of New Jersey. One coloured church there was. where once a 

 year the priest came to announce pardon for their sins. It was very hard to 



