with numerous horticultural hybrids in addition. These plants 

 grow in tropical Asia and Australia, Madagascar, the Seychelles 

 Islands, the Philippine Islands, and especially in the Malayan 

 Archipelago. 



The pineapple family, Bromeliaceae, is strictly American in 

 distribution, mostly confined to the tropics. There are between 

 1,100 and 1,200 species known. Much water collects in the 

 bases of the leaves of many of the species, and the water thus 

 collected is said to furnish breeding places for mosquitoes in trop- 

 ical forests. The pineapple, Ananas Ananas, is the most widely 

 known plant of this family. It is cultivated in all tropical coun- 

 tries, and even in cold climates under glass. In southern Florida 

 many hundreds of acres are devoted to the pineapple industry. 

 Several forms of this plant are represented in the collection 

 on the north side bench, about half way down the house, among 

 them some variegated forms which are quite decorative. On the 

 corner of the same bench near the palm-house will be found two 

 or three specimens of the hedge bromeliad, Bromelia Pinguin, very 

 largely used in the West Indies for hedges. An inspection of its 

 viciously armed leaves will show how well it is adapted to this 

 purpose. The leaves attain a length of four to six feet, and a 

 thickly planted hedge effectually keeps out both man and beast. 

 The genus Tillandsia, on the south bench in the corner near the 

 palm-house, is a large one, and is represented by several species 

 in Florida. The Florida or Spanish moss, Tillandsia usneoides, 

 native to Florida and tropical America, will be found hanging 

 from two suspended baskets. This occurs in great profusion in 

 some of the Florida swamps, hanging down in long streaming 

 masses, and giving the surroundings a most weird appearance. 

 The members of the pineapple family are nearly all epiphytes, 

 and sometimes cover the branches of the trees with an unbroken 

 mass to the exclusion of all other forms of vegetation. 



The aroid family, the Araceae, is a vast one, occurring in the 

 tropics everywhere, both in the Old World and the New, with a 

 few extensions into temperate regions. There are perhaps over 

 twelve hundred species of this family known. The modest little 

 jack-in-the-pulpit of our own woods is one of the best known ; 



