0. caudatun 



from 



>uthern Afric 



with it 





: both 



desirable and showy. The Australian genus Dianella is present 

 in D. laevis and D. coerulea. Another plant from southern Africa 

 is Vdtheimia capensis, often called V. viridifolia, with its vivid 

 green leaves and terminal inflorescence of drooping flowers, re- 

 sembling in appearance the red-hot poker of the gardens. 



In the lily-of-the-valley family, Convallariaceae, we have, be- 

 sides others, Ruscus, in two species, R. aculeatus, the butcher's 

 broom, of southern Europe and the Orient, and R. Hypoglosmm, 

 of the Mediterranean region. These are not quite hardy in this 

 latitude, so it is necessary to grow them indoors. Another plant 

 related to these is Danac racemosa, native from Greece to Persia, 

 and known commonly as Alexandrian laurel. In these three 

 plants the flat leaf-like bodies are not true leaves. If the young 

 shoots are examined the true leaves will be found on them as 

 scale-like organs, and from the axils of these arise the flattened 

 leaf-like bodies, which are really branches and bear the name 

 of phylloclades. In addition to their arising from the axils of 

 leaves, their branch-like character is shown by the fact that they 

 bear flowers and fruit. In the two species of Ruscus these are 

 borne on the surface, either the upper or the lower, while in Dame 

 they are borne at the apex. 



The aroid family, Araceae, has the little variegated Japanese 



of the 



This 

 mps, Ac* 



Calamus. 



In the pine family, Pinaceae, there are a number of interesting 

 plants, among them Callitris Whytei, from Nyassaland. In the 

 yew family, Taxaceae, perhaps the most interesting plant is 

 Tumion taxifolium, sometimes known as Torreya laxifolia. This 

 is related to the common yew of the gardens, Taxus baccata, 

 and represents a class of trees now nearly extinct. This par- 

 ticular species is found in a small area, perhaps two or three 

 miles in length, along the Apalachicola River in the extreme 

 northwest corner of Florida. It is known from nowhere else 



