being borne near its base. It has now developed a trunk and tr. 

 flowers are borne several feet in the air, so that they are quil 

 readily seen. Another plant, which came to us as 5. augusta, 

 also in flower, and proves to be the same as the above. This 

 a disappointment. We are very desirous of securing a plant < 

 5. augusta, which has the entire flower white, instead of a portio 

 of it being blue, as in the other species. 



As the banana family is now under consideration I wish to ca 

 attention to another member of it, several plants of which are i 

 the group in house no. 4 — this is Musa tcxtilis, of the Malaya 

 region. This is of great value as a fiber plant, for it is from th 

 leaf-sheaths of this that the Manilla hemp of commerce and th 

 industrial arts is secured. 



I cannot refrain from again calling attention to the charmin 

 crested orchid, Coelogyne cristata, from the Himalayan region, a 

 account of which, together with a plate, appeared in the Journ; 

 for April of -last year. A group of these plants, now comin 

 into bloom, will be found on one of the side benches in hous 



George V. Nash. 



THE AMERICAN DRAGON'S-BLOOD-TREE. 



In May, 1888, Mr. C. Thieme, while collecting in and about 



the vicinity of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, discovered at an alti- 



cies of Dracaena. Subsequent collections have been made by 

 H. von Tuerckheim in Guatemala, and by Adolfo Tonduz and 

 Enrique Pittier in Costa Rica. 



This plant, the American dragon's-blood-tree, is a member 

 of the Lily Family, and is closely related to Yucca, the Spanish 

 Bayonets. While the leaves of the Yuccas are rigid and sharp 

 pointed, the foliage of the Dracaenas is often flexible and orna- 



Prior to this discovery, the gei 

 from the Old World and its occu 

 wholly unexpected. 



