92 



THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



last six months. She has been severely criticized for the 

 too original taste she displays in the matter of her attire, 

 which is considered quite ''unseasonable," and for several 

 other ideas vyrhich show that she cares very little for the 

 dictums of the best arbor society. Now, it is usually re- 

 garded as improper for any tropical tree to pose au nat- 

 urel or to don pale green in the middle of the dry season ; 

 but, as Prof. O. F. Cook has intimated to us, she has good 

 reasons for so doing and is by no means alone in this 

 breach of custom ; in fact, Madame Ceiba is the leader of 

 a clique, retinue, or whatever you please, and as such she 

 will probably continue to follow her own ideas as regards 

 times for leafing, wearing flowers, and carrying fruits. 



Candidly, I am not championing Mme. Ceiba, for I do 

 think she presents a most uncouth appearance unless iuWy 

 dressed ; but she has certainly done much good among 

 botanists by always insisting that they do not really 

 know why trees were deciduous, anyway. The tropical 

 almond (Terminalia catappa) is also self-sufficient in re- 

 gard to seasonal styles in outer garments and is given to 

 a strong taste for reds (and tannins). Moreover she re- 

 serves the right to produce one, two, or no crop of fruits 

 per year. 



The staid old calabash {Crescentia cujete) occasionally 

 breaks through the custom of being evergreen ; and at 

 such times the usual epiphytes, parasites, and large fruits 

 on ungraceful branches present an unpleasant spectacle. 

 The Spanish plum, or "Jobo," {Spondias lutea) waves its 

 bare arms in the burning sunshine of the dry season for 

 one to three months. The cabbage-bark (Andira inermis) 

 follows the same habit but usually puts out a new foliage 

 long before the rainy season. Jatropha curcas, the half- 

 forgotten physic-nut, discards its leaves whenever things 

 go wrong or the sun gets too exorbitant with the water 

 tax. The Ciruelas (Spondias purpurea vars.) of course 

 follow their big sister, the "Jobo," in the matter of dress. 

 Even the should-be-famous Goano {Ochroma lagopus) is 

 a hanger-on upon the edge of Mme. Ceiba's set. And 



