(IO) 



medusa (Acalypha hispida) ; belonging to this family also is 

 the plant bearing physic or Barbados nuts (JatrophaCurcas) . 

 The showy genus Codiaeum, commonly known as crotons, 

 also belongs to the spurge family. Members of the cactus 

 family, represented by several genera, especially of kinds 

 growing naturally on trees in tropical forests, will be found 

 near the spurge family. Decorative members of the ginseng 

 family are also in this house. 



House No. 8. As in house No. 7, the plants assembled 

 here are of miscellaneous interest. The madder family is 

 present in showy forms of ixoras, hoffmannias and ronde- 

 letias. There are striking forms of the potato family; also 

 attractive representatives of the gesnerias, in the African or 

 Usambara violet, and several forms of the genus Tricho- 

 sporum, excellent basket plants. On the north side bench 

 may be found a collection of begonias in many forms, ranging 

 from the large-leaved Begonia nelumbifolia, of the West 

 Indies, to the small-leaved B. foliosa, from Colombia, and 

 the dainty little B. rotundifolia, known only from the island 

 of Haiti, and for many years lost to science. The showy 

 foliage forms of Begonia Rex are present in great variety. 

 Among the more noteworthy economic plants are the ramie 

 plant (Boehmeria nivea) , a native of China, from the fiber 

 of which the so-called grass-cloth is woven. 



House No. g. This is the aquatic house, and plants which 

 find their homes in the water or require much moisture are 

 brought together here. From the bridge spanning the pool 

 the various features may be readily observed. Fringing the 

 pool on the right, as one enters from house No. 10, are mem- 

 bers of the sedge and grass families, while on the left hand 

 side the fringe is made up entirely of grasses, largely of the 

 graceful bamboos. Of special interest among the sedges is 

 the Egyptian paper-plant {Cy perns Papyrus), from which 

 many of the ancients obtained their writing paper. Among 

 the grasses by far the most important is the sugar cane 

 {Saccharum officinarum) ; from the lower portions of its 

 stalks the juice is extracted by pressure, and from this juice 



