(?3) 



pool on the right, as one enters from house No. 10, are mem- 

 bers of the sedge and grass families, while on the left hand 

 side the fringe is made up entirely of grasses, largely of the 

 graceful bamboos. Of special interest among the sedges is 

 the Egyptian paper-plant (Cyfierus Papyrus), from which 

 many of the ancients obtained their writing paper. Among 

 the grasses by far the most important is the sugar cane 

 (Sacckarum officinarwri) ; from the lower portions of its 

 stalks the juice is extracted by pressure, and from this juice 

 sugar is manufactured. Among the plants in the pool are 

 many with attractive flowers ; conspicuous among these being 

 water-lilies (Castalia), of which there are several different 

 kinds ; the water hyacinth ; the parrot's-feather, with its deli- 

 cate feathery masses of green ; the water poppy ; the water 

 snowflake ; the water lettuce, a member of the aroid family ; 

 the floating fern ; and some odd little plants related to the 

 ferns, members of the genus Salvinia..^— 



House No. i o. This house is devoted to ferns and their 

 relatives from tropical countries. The species from tem- 

 perate regions will be found in house No. 12. The collections 

 are here arranged in botanical sequence, and thus closely re- 

 lated families and genera are brought into juxtaposition, en- 

 abling one to make a comparative study of these plants ; on 

 the north side bench will be found, among others, some of the 

 climbing ferns {Lygodiuni), the cliff brakes, and a large 

 group of the maidenhair ferns, embracing many forms, some 

 of them of exceeding beauty ; on the south side bench will 

 be found the brakes (Pteris) and their relatives, and the 

 large group of the genus Selagmella, relatives of the ferns. 

 On the central bench are many of the polypodies, including a 

 group of the golden polypody ; many shield ferns ; several 

 species of the genus Ne^phrolefis, to which the Boston fern 

 belongs ; and a collection of davallias, some of which are 

 very decorative. Some fern-relatives, represented by the 

 genera Salvinia and Marsilea, will also be found on the 

 south bench. 



House No. 11. Here are placed the tree-ferns and such 



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