Miscellaneous Useful Products. 



528 



[June, 1912. 



exact Schedule is, indeed, a matter of no 

 little difficulty. 



May I point out, in concluding, that the 

 R.H.S. Code of Rules, which have been 

 revised this year, may be obtained in 

 the Office? 



TROPICAL FLOWERING PLANT. 

 (Illustrated.) 



Odontadenia Harrisii ranks among 

 the most beautiful of tropical flowering 

 climbers. At Peradeniya, where it was 

 first introduced in 1887, it grows luxur- 

 iantly, draping an isolated Cassia tree 

 and forming giaceful festoons from 

 branch to branch. It blossoms at least 

 twice a year, chiefly in the moist months 

 and after a spell of dry weather. The 



large bell-shaped flowers, which resem- 

 ble those of Allamanda in form, are of a 

 beautiful salmon-yellow, streaked with 

 crimson on the- inner side of the tube, 

 the corolla ending in a prettily scolloped 

 and wavy margin. They are borne in 

 profusion towards the ends of the 

 branches, the latter being weighted 

 down by the heavy trusses of blossom. 

 The flowers are very pleasantly and 

 delicately scented, suggesting freshly 

 picked primroses. Unfortunately the 

 plant never sets seed here, but responds 

 extremely slowly to propagation by 

 layering under special care. The plant 

 was formerly known as Dipladenia 

 Harrisii, and though the specific name 

 has been retained here, the proper name 

 of the plant is Odontadenia speciosa. 



H. P. M. 



MISCELLANEOUS USEFUL PRODUCTS. 



THE IVORY-NUT PALM. 

 (Illustrated.) 



Ivory-nut Palm, or Corozo-nut (Phy- 

 telephas macrocarpa). — A slow-growing 

 palm, with handsome pinnate erect 

 leaves, 10 to 15 feet long, native of Cen- 

 tral America. It was introduced at 

 Peradeniya Gardens in 1850, and has 

 flowered and fruited here at irregular 

 intervals during the last fifteen years. 

 For many years stemless, the palm forms 

 in time a short prostrate stem. It is 

 dioecious (male and female flowers being 

 borne on different plants), so that it is 

 necessary to have a plant of both sexes 

 in order to obtain fertile seed. The large 

 whitish seeds (contained in large round 



clusters of spikey fruits, produced at the 

 base of the palm) become very hard as 

 they ripen, and are known as '' vegetable 

 ivory." They are in demand for making 

 superior buttons, articles of ornaments, 

 &c, and are said to command at present 

 about 349. per cwt. The source of supply 

 is confined to Central America, and the 

 aunual average production is about 48 

 million pounds, all of which is exported. 

 Other palm seeds are also used to some 

 extent'as vegetable ivory, as the Raphia 

 vinifera of West Africa, and the Coquilla 

 nuts (Attalea funifera) of Brazil. The 

 seeds of the Talipot palm (Corypha 

 umbraculifera) are commonly worked 

 into buttons and articles of ornament in 

 Ceylon, 



H. F. M. 



