77 



vomiting and giddiness, with pains in the head. Lady's slipper 

 poisons in the same way as does poison ivy. The bulbs seem to 

 be the most harmful. Lilies of the valley are also as much so. 

 There is enough opium in red poppies to do mischief ; and the 

 autumn crocus, if the blossoms are chewed, causes vomiting and 

 purging. The leaves and flowers of the oleander are deadly, and 

 the bark of the catalpa tree is very mischievous. — Indian Garden- 

 ing and Planting. 



Origin of the Cocoa Palm. — It has always been a ques- 

 tion whether our familiar cocoanut is the fruit of a species of 

 palm (Cocos nil si If 'era) native to the warmer parts of this conti- 

 nent, or whether it was introduced by the early Spanish explorers 

 from islands in the Pacific ocean. Opinion has frequently leaned 

 in favor of its introduction by the Spanish ; but in a recent con- 

 tribution from the United States National Herbarium, Mr. O. F. 

 Cook insists upon its American origin. In defense of his argu- 

 ment he cites among other facts that the whole family of plants 

 to which the cocoa palm belongs, consisting of about twenty 

 genera and two hundred species, are, with the single exception of 

 the African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), of American origin. 

 Mr. Cook conjectures that the original home of the cocoanut was 

 in some of the sheltered valleys of the equatorial Andes, where 

 elevation moderated and equalized the temperature and the 

 volcanic soil furnished the alkalinity which the species apparently 

 finds congenial on the seashore, and which it is unable to obtain 

 in inland localities having a heavy rainfall. The cocoanut is said 

 to resemble the date palm in this preference for alkaline soils, but 

 differs in being much more sensitive to extremes of temperature. 

 Apropos of this last statement it may be noted that the inhabitants 

 of the West Indies have a saying that to come to the best, the 

 cocoanut must grow "with its roots in water and its crown in 

 fire." 



