12 
PLANTS OF DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA 
many thinking they taste like squash. 
The tree is short lived, but is so strik¬ 
ing and beautiful that it should be in 
every one’s grounds. 
On the Lower Keys a large Cereus 
(C. monoclonos) occasionally grows, 
usually in clusters, whoses stems some¬ 
times reach a height of 20 feet and a 
diameter of six inches. It is a most 
striking object, but so far I have never 
been able to make it do well here. 
The Red Stopper (Eugenia confusa) 
is a beautiful tree in our hammocks, 
with a dense head of very glossy, leath¬ 
ery, long pointed leaves, with small 
white flowers in the fall, followed by 
bright scarlet berries. It is well worthy 
of cultivation. 
:On the Lower Keys and the extreme 
southern part of the mainland is found 
a small, crooked tree with obovate, shin¬ 
ing, yellow-green leaves and clusters of 
small, pale yellow flowers in winter that 
are deliciously fragrant. It is Jacquinia 
kayensis, and is well worthy of a place 
in the yard or garden. 
The Wild Star Apple (Chrysophyl- 
lum monopyrenum) is a handsome, 
small tree, growing in dense hammocks. 
Its oval, pointed, thick leaves are glossy, 
an indescribable blue-green above and 
covered on the lower side with a bril¬ 
liant coppery or red-brown pubescence. 
Although it naturally lives in deep shade 
it will grow well in sunshine and on 
high pine land. When the wind tosses 
up its leaves so that the under surfaces 
show it is strikingly beautiful. 
Mimusops sieberi, or Wild Dilly, is 
a nearly related tree from the Lower 
Keys, with rosettes of handsome leaves 
clustered at the ends of the branches, 
rounded or retuse at the apex. They 
are bright red when young, but become 
leathery and deep glossy green above at 
maturity. The small flowers are fol¬ 
lowed by globular fruits an inch or more 
in diameter, covered with rusty scales. 
It is a striking and handsome tree. 
The Geiger Tree, a native of the Keys 
(Cordia sebestena), is probably the 
handsomest flowered wild tree of South 
Florida. It has large, rough, pointed 
leaves which are sometimes cordate, and 
salver-shaped flowers in large heads that 
are a brilliant orange or flame color, and 
they appear irregularly throughout the 
year. It may be readily grown from cut¬ 
tings. 
Crescentia cucurbitana or Black Cala¬ 
bash Tree is common in hammocks and 
swamps only along the shores of Bis- 
cayne Bay in Florida, although it is 
found in the Bahamas and West Indies. 
It has handsome, large, thick, glossy 
leaves. Its flowers are trumpet shaped 
and purplish, and are followed by oval, 
green fruits three or four inches long. 
There is a small tree found on the 
Lower Keys called Prince Wood 
(Exostema caribseum), with elliptical, 
pointed, shining leaves and long fuchsia¬ 
like white or pinkish tinted flowers, that 
is an elegant thing. A fine specimen of 
it may be seen planted by Dr. John Gif¬ 
ford in his grounds at Cocoanut Grove. 
We have an elderberry, a large bush 
or small tree, native of Dade County 
(Sambucus sp.), which may be unde¬ 
scribed. It has exceedingly large, fine 
heads of pure white flowers and is really 
very attractive. 
Laurocerasus sphaerocarpa is a lovely 
small tree with shining leaves, white 
blossoms like those of a northern cherry, 
opening in early winter, and small green¬ 
ish fruits. It should be planted exten¬ 
sively. L. caroliniana is said to grow 
in Dade County and is a handsome, 
hardy, small tree. 
NATIVE) ORNAME)NTAL SHRUBS. 
Two handsome shrubs grow in this 
region around the borders of hammocks, 
Hamelia. patens, with elliptical, pointed, 
red-tinted leaves and clusters of elegant, 
orange scarlet, tubular flowers; and 
Frythrina herbacea, with trifoliate 
leaves and elongated, purplish-crimson 
flowers. The former is in flower nearly 
the entire year, and is really one of the 
most desirable shrubs I know of for 
this region, as it flourishes when planted 
in the pine land without either attention 
or fertilizer. The latter is an awkward 
grower and opens its blossoms in late 
winter and spring. An arboreal form 
grows in Florida which has received the 
