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to carry them over periods of drought. On the right hand 
bench, as one enters from No. 4, are mainly plants from 
southern Africa: the carrion flowers (Stapelia), relatives of 
our common milkweed of the roadsides; Gasteria, Hawor- 
thia, and other South African representatives of the lily 
family; and the fig-marigolds, Mesembryanthemum, be- 
longing to the carpet-weed family. 
On the end of the center bench, opposite to the entrance 
from house 4, is the collection of the fleshy members of 
the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, mostly natives of the 
Old World. These closely resemble forms of the genus 
Cereus and related genera of the cactus family, to be found 
in houses 6 and 7. In fact the adaptation to an arid 
environment, by the thickening of stems or leaves, is 
strikingly illustrated in the plants of several families con- 
tained in the collections in houses 5 to 8. On the westerly 
side of the center bench are the aloes, mainly South African 
members of the lily family. A large part of the remaining 
portion of the center bench and the side bench on the east 
side are devoted to members of the orpine family, many 
of these interesting and beautiful forms. The echeverias 
from Mexico and Central America, and the sempervivums 
or house-leeks, from the Old World, are conspicuous 
among these. Among other genera represented are Sedum, 
Kalanchoé, Pachyphytum, and Crassula (in house 6 are large 
specimens of Crassula portulacea). Many of the stone- 
crops are hardy plants and a collection of these may be 
found at the herbaceous grounds. A large number of 
specimens belonging in this house and in the three following 
ones may be found during the summer in the beds in the 
conservatory court. 
House No. 6. This is also a desert house. On the 
corner benches is a collection of century plants (Agave), 
a large genus known only from the New World; other and 
larger plants of this same genus may be found in the central 
portion of the house. Conspicuous among these are: 
the thread-bearing agave, Queen Victoria’s agave, the 
