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West Indies and by the curious Mexican Acanthorhiza 
aculeata with spine-like roots on its trunk. Old World 
species are shown in a very large tree of the Chinese fan- 
palm, and by numerous other large species from the 
Pacific islands. Another Old World palm is Calamus 
asperrimus, of Java, curious in its climbing habit; the 
specimen here is over one hundred and seventy feet long; 
the long tail-like appendages to the leaves, which have back- 
wardly turned spines, enable the palm to climb on sur- 
rounding vegetation. Related to the palms and shown by 
numerous specimens in this house, we find a number of 
species of the Panama hat-plant family, the most conspicu- 
ous being the Panama hat plant (Carludovica palmata), from 
the young leaves of which the costly Panama hats are made. 
Opposite the entrance to the court is a plant which be- 
longs to the grass family, the Chinese bamboo (Bambos 
vulgaris), whose stems reach into the upper part of the 
dome; this plant grows with great rapidity each year by 
new shoots which come up from under ground, our measure- 
ments showing that they reached 65 feet in height in 95 
days, a rate of about 8 inches a day. The plant has been 
introduced into the West Indies, and in places where it 
grows its stems are put to a great variety of uses in con- 
struction, for water pipes, and for various utensils. 
Houses No. 2 and No. 3 contain a collection of exogenous 
tropical plants. These are arranged in botanical sequence, 
the families appearing to the right or left of the walk, or 
both, as cultural conditions require, the sequence beginning 
at the east end on the north side, proceeding to the west 
end of house 3 and returning on the south side of the two 
houses, and terminating at the east end of house 2. On 
the right, as one enters from the north door from house 1, 
is a collection of the pepper family, Piperaceae. These 
are largely of the genus Peperomia; many of these 
plants have been collected by Garden expeditions to the 
West Indies. Plants of the genus Piper are usually large, 
and the larger ones will be found in the center nearby. 
