ISO 
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 
merits of cedar wood about three thousand years old 
were found in the ruins of Nineveh by explorers. 
The ancient and famed local it)' of the cedar of Leba- 
non is now reduced to a quarter of a mile in extent, 
situated upon an elevation over six thousand feet 
above the sea level. Here survive some four hundred 
Bed of Ficus Species, Including Ficus Can 
Mention. 
cal 
trees, the largest a hundred feet in height and believed 
to be about 2,500 years old. 
A plant which grows in beauty in the botanic gar- 
den, and may be seen a little later in the season when 
outdoor life becomes more luxuriant, is a clump of 
waving bulrushes, which forms the centerpiece of the 
water-lily pond south of the main conservatory. It 
was from this species of rush that the ark of Moses 
was made, and of which we read in the verse, "And 
when she could no longer hide him, she took for him 
an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and 
pitch, and put the child therein." 
Besides being used for making vessels for floating 
upon the water, and for domestic purposes, the bul- 
rush is famed as the material of which the paper of 
the ancients was made, called papyri. 
Another plant in the botanic garden connected with 
the career of Moses is the manna tree. By Bible stu- 
dents it has been considered quite possible that this 
tree provided the manna which God sent to the chil- 
dren of Israel during their long march through the 
wilderness. The Tamarix Mannifera, as it is botanic- 
ally named, is a small tree, or much-branched shrub, 
of heathlike appearance, a very attractive bush. At 
certain seasons of the year its stems are pierced by a 
small insect, and from the bark thus punctured exudes 
a honeylike liquid. When the tree is cut at any season 
this sweet fluid adheres to the knife and is very pleas- 
ing td the taste. The plant is common in the desert of 
Sinai, and its substance is even yet collected by the 
Bedouin Arabs, who preserve it like honey and harden 
it into cakes. 
It is interesting to know that this substance, which 
was in all probability the manna of the Bible, is today 
used in making a certain variety of chewing gum, once 
more exemplifying the old proverb from Ecclesiastes, 
"There is no new thing under the sun." 
Needless to say, the botanic garden has many fine 
specimens of rose of Sharon. The prolific leafy shrub, 
with its wealth of pink and white blossoms, grows in 
Palestine, but its Biblical name has not been identified 
with certainty. The seed of the oriental plant gracing 
the grounds of the botanic garden was brought from 
the Vale of Cashmere. 
Another tree of especial interest as being connected 
with an old tradition relating to Joseph of Arimathea, 
the "certain rich man" who provided the tomb of 
Christ, is the fine hawthorn standing sentinel over the 
northern entrance to the botanic garden. In May this 
luxuriant shrub glows with unnumbered pink clusters, 
which throw their pungent fragrance far and wide. 
This is the flowering thorn, which tradition says 
formed the staff of Joseph of Arimathea, when he led 
the pilgrim band to Britain to spread the doctrine of 
Christianity. 
This beautiful story, be it fact or fancy, states that 
when the Christians reached the hill at Glastonbury, 
in the south of England, known as "Weary-all-hill," 
Cedr 
Libanii (Cedar of Lebanon.) . 
and near which the great abbey was later reared, Jo- 
seph thrust his staff into the ground with the exclama- 
tion, "We are weary, all ; here shall we rest." As a 
sign of divine cheer and encouragement the staff of 
thorn burst into leaf and bloom, and the travelers knew 
that their journey was over. — Washington Star. 
