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this fruit is not edible. Chocolate trees (Zheobroma Cacao) 
native of tropical America, may be found near the western 
door of this house; the small white flowers are produced on 
the trunk and on branches, and a few of them develop into 
the large woody pods containing the seeds or chocolate 
beans, which are dried and ground up into chocolate and 
cocoa; specimens illustrating the chocolate industry will be 
found in the economic museum. The papaya, or papaw, 
also of tropical America, is illustrated by a tall tree in the 
middle of this house; its fruit, esteemed as an aid to di- 
gestion, is borne just under the crown of leaves. 
Several interesting tall vines climb on the pillars of this 
house, among them the night-blooming jessamine (Cestrum 
Parguz) of tropical America, which opens its flowers after 
dark and exhales a delicious perfume, the flowers remaining 
open during part of the morning ; Henderson’s Alamanda of 
Brazil, with its showy large yellow flowers, climbs to the 
roof. 
flouse No. 5. The plants in this house are from desert 
regions. Especial attention is called to their fleshy stems or 
leaves which serve as storage organs for a water supply to 
carry them over periods of drought. On the right hand 
bench, as one enters from No. 4, are found mainly plants 
from southern Africa: the carrion flowers (Stapelia), rela- 
tives of our common milkweed of the roadsides; Aloe, Gas- 
teria, ffaworthia, and other South African representatives 
of the lily family. 
The central bench is entirely devoted to the cactus family, 
which, with few exceptions, is American. Nearly all these 
plants are devoid of leaves, these organs, when present, being 
small and inconspicuous; in the genus Opuntia they are 
usually present on the young growths as awl-shaped bodies, 
while in some few species they are much larger and remain 
for some time; in the genus Fereskéa, specimens of which 
will be found in house No. 7, the leaves are large and well 
developed. The stems of the cacti are fleshy and assume a 
great number of forms; in Opuntza the stem is composed 
