THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 2^ 
Cook, it is almost unique. And the orchids of Porto Rico are 
conspicuous by their absence. 
He will meet many species of plants which occur in the South- 
ern States and this may or may not surprise him, according to his 
experience. Accustomed to see Diffcnhachia segiiine as a green 
house pet, he will be surprised to see it flaunting its splendid dark 
green leaves at him, from the midst of some damp thicket. The 
leaves frequently have one or more small white spots on their up- 
per surface, and it is these snowflake-like spots in the wild plant 
which have been bred up intO' the conspicuous blotches and 
streakes of the conservatory specimen. 
If he looks carefully in swampy ground he will perhaps find a 
most peculiar plant of the A morpho phallus type. This plant 
which, by the way, has just been sent to the New York Botanical 
Gardens, and which may prove tO' be a new species, possesses one 
of the most interesting forms of leaves I have ever seen ; the blade 
is neither compound nor palmate, but a peculiar crazy mixture of 
both, and in addition the intravenal tissue isi thrown up into 
ridges and filled with holes of various sizes. The petiole is a 
study in itself ; its surface seems to shine with an iridescent lus- 
tre derived from metallic-looking cells just beneath the epidermis; 
the surface is blotched and marked with light and dark grays and 
browns, like the skin of an adder; and apparently not content 
\vith this scary display, the plantf feebly defends itself with irre- 
gularly placed and almost harmless conical spines. Sacrilege 
though it may be, the large flat corm of this wonderful plant is 
dug and eaten by the half-starved half-breeds of the interior. Its 
flower seems to be unknown, even to the natives, but we hcne a 
little cossetting and the judicious use of phosphoric acid will en- 
able us to see a great treat in the flower line within a few months . 
Pancratium caribacuni grows wild along the sea-beach and 
even in sandy fields back from the coast. Its flowers are four to 
six inches across and exceedingly fragrant. Florists list it at 
about ten cents per bulb. Hippcastriim equcstre, the Barbadoes 
lily, is one of our commonest weeds. A field of these flowers in 
bloom in the early spring is surely a magnificent surprise. For 
all around, rough-and-tumble, catch-as-catch-can vitalitv, I be- 
lieve this bulb cannot be beaten. Plow them up, mangle them 
