51 
to olives, and when not in bloom. this feature is frequently re- 
marked upon by visitors. Other plants of interest in this house 
are Chorizema varium, an Australian shrub, with its odd colored 
wers borne in great profusion; and two other Australian 
shrubs, Greville rosmarinifolia and G. alpina, the latter being 
especially effective and decorative, having a blooming period of 
about two months. 
In house no. 13, another devoted to temperate plants, will be 
found the Australian acacias in many species looking much alike 
in flower. The dainty feathery blossoms with their bright yel- 
lows and sweet perfume are very attractive. 
In no. 4, the banana house, the corresponding one at the 
other end of the range, perhaps the most interesting plant for 
the past few weeks has been Theobroma Cacao, the chocolate 
tree, from the beans of which chocolate and cocoa are derived. 
There are four or five plants four or five feet tall which have 
been raised here from seed. These have flowered several times, 
but during last summer one of them set a single fruit, which has 
been slowly developing, until now it has arrived at maturity. 
‘Differing from most trees, this bears its flowers and fruit along the 
trunk and at the base of the larger branches. Opposite to the 
Theobroma is a large plant of Medinilla magnifica, a native of the 
Philippines. It is at present bearing its pink panicles of flowers 
in great profusion. Not only the flowers themselves are pink, 
but the panicle stem and branches and its large bracts are also 
of this color. Unlike most of the members of this family, the 
Melastomaceae, the leaves have not a number of longitudinal 
nerves, but are feather-veined. 
he bananas in this house, of course, are always an object of 
interest, and some one or more of the plants are always in flower 
and fruit. Musa coccinea, a native of China, a low-growing 
species, with its bright red bracts, is now very showy, as is also 
M. ornata, from Asia, with its long tail-like inflorescence and 
large pink bracts. EORGE V. NASH. 
MARCH 2, 1903. 
