(8) 



with the odor of pineapple. Another is Monstera late- 

 vaginata; the early leaves differ widely from the mature 

 ones. The main aroid collection will be found in house io, 

 and other plants at range 2. 



A large tree of the common rubber plant, much grown in 

 parlors, may be found in the center of this house, reaching 

 to the roof; this is a native of tropical Asia and yields some 

 rubber, but not in as great quantity nor of as good quality 

 as the other rubber trees of South and Central America; it 

 is a species of fig (Ficus elastica) ; other species of Ficus are 

 shown in this house, notably a fine tree of Roxburgh's 

 fig, which bears its inedible fruit in bunches near the base of 

 the tree, and a specimen of the Banyan tree {Ficus beng- 

 halensis). Chocolate trees {Theobroma Cacao), native of 

 tropical America, may be found near the northern 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 here also; its fruit, 

 esteemed as an aid to digestion, is borne just under the 

 crown of leaves. A specimen of the bread-fruit tree 

 (Artocarpus incisa) may also be seen here; originally from 

 the islands of the Pacific, it was introduced into the West 

 Indies in the latter part of the eighteenth century. 



Several interesting tall vines climb on the pillars of this 

 house, and on supports along the sides, among them the 

 night-blooming jessamine (Cestrum Parqui) 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 Allamanda, of Brazil, with 

 its showy large yellow flowers, climbs to the roof. 



House 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 



