oil, wine, coco de Chili, sugar, and cradle palms; the East India 

 bamboo; the tree fern from New Zealand; astrapea, from Madagas- 

 car; screw pine of Australia, with its cork-screw leaves and roots 

 in mid air; the cinnamon of Ceylon; maiden's hair fern; mango, 

 a delicious fruit of the West Indies; and banana, that most prolific 

 of all plants; the great stag and elkhorn ferns from Australia, (very 

 fine specimens,) and the dumb cane of South America. The sap 

 of the root of the latter will take away the power of speech. Hum- 

 boldt, during his explorations in South America, was eight days 

 speechless from tasting it. The outer circle of the rotunda is devoted 

 to the smaller tropical plants. 



'The E. range, temperature 50°, and wing, 40° are devoted more 

 particularly to the plants of the South Sea Islands, Brazil, Cape 

 of Good Hope, Australia, and New Holland. The principal 

 specimens are the tree fern of New Zealand; the aloe and the Caffre 

 bread tree from the Cape of Good Hope; the India rubber, the 

 passion flower, the caladium, of Brazil; Norfolk Island pine of 

 Australia, one the most beautiful and largest-growing trees in the 

 world; the queen plant, or bird of paradise flower, from its 

 resemblance to the plume of that bird; the tutui, or candle-nut 

 tree, from the Society Islands, the nut being used by the natives 

 for lighting their huts; the coffee plant, and several varieties of 

 cactus. 



To the W. range and wing, temperature same as E., the plants 

 of China and Japan, the East and West Indies, and Mexico are 

 assigned. The most notable plants here are the cycadaceae, of the 

 East Indies, the largest in the country; the four-century plant; the 

 camellia japonica, or Japan rose; the lovely lily of Cuba; the historic 

 papyrus antiquorum, or paper plant, of Egypt; the tallow and leechee 

 trees of China; the guava, a delightful fruit of the West Indies; the 

 vanilla of Mexico, the species which furnishes the aromatic bean; 

 the black pepper from the East Indies; the sugar cane, the cher- 

 amoyer, or custard apple, and cassava of the West Indies; the sen- 

 sitive and the humble plants; the American aloe, or century plant, 

 of Mexico; the camphor tree from Japan; the tea plant; the pap ay, 

 an Oriental tree, which has the property of rendering the tough- 

 est meat tender; a plant of the adansonia digitata, or monkey bread, 

 which grows on the banks of the Senegal, and reaches the enor- 

 mous circumference of 100 ft. They are supposed to attain the age 

 of 5,000 years. They have many uses. Humboldt pronounces them 

 the oldest organic monuments of our planet. There is also a speci- 

 men of the carob tree of Palestine, sometimes called St. John's 

 bread. The pulp around the seed is supposed to have been the 



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