26 
PLANTS OF DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA 
"handsome trifoliate leaves which flour¬ 
ishes finely here. 
Bixa orellana, a West Indian tree 
has cordate leaves, pink flowers like 
glorified peach blossoms, and soft, 
prickly pods whose seeds are covered 
with an orange red paste. It is the 
Arnatto or Roucou, and the paste is 
used alike to decorate the bodies of 
South American Indians and to color 
the butter and cheese of civilized man. 
It does fairly well if fertilized. 
Butea frondosa. An Indian tree with 
very large trifoliate leaves and red 
flowers. Sir Joseph Hooker in the 
Himalayan Journals says “In the Soane 
Valley Butea frondosa was abundantly 
in flower and a gorgeous sight. In mass 
the inflorescence resembles sheets of 
flame and individually the flowers are 
eminently beautiful, the bright orange- 
red petals contrasting brilliantly against 
the jet-black, velvety calyx.” I have re¬ 
peatedly failed with this tree, but at 
last a specimen planted in the edge of 
the rocky hammock in a rather dry 
place is doing finely. 
Cassia fistula has ■ handsome, large 
pinnate leaves and drooping leaflets, 
and long, pendant, pale yellow clusters 
•of flowers. When in bloom it is one of 
the most charming of objects. There is 
a fine specimen at the Sub-Tropical 
Laboratory near Miami. 
Caesalpinia sappan is a rather attract¬ 
ive, thorny tree with fine, bipinnate 
leaves, yellow flowers and striking seed 
pods, which does well here. C. coriaria 
is a tree with delicately beautiful com¬ 
pound leaves and greenish, fragrant 
flowers, a little tender when young, but 
it will probably do well when estab¬ 
lished. C. gilliesii so far has not done 
well. 
Calophyllum inophyllum, a noble tree 
from the East Indies has fine large 
glossy leaves and large handsome white 
flowers. It is very tender here, but may 
do well when it is once established. 
I have a superb specimen of C. calaba 
of the West Indies that grew from a 
seed which was washed upon our shores. 
It is 20 feet high and has not yet 
bloomed, but is one of the finest trees 
•on my place. 
Castilla elastica. This is the Central 
American Rubber Tree and I have seen 
specimens of it in southern Cuba that 
were fine. It grows well here in sum¬ 
mer, but the cool weather and espe¬ 
cially frosts put it back badly. 
Crescentia cujete. An awkward 
growing tree with long, narrow leaves 
and not particularly ornamental, but it 
bears curious, purplish, trumpet shaped 
blossoms on the main stem and large 
branches, which produce the celebrated 
calabashes, used everywhere in tropical 
America. It is a rapid grower, is very 
tender, but will do well here when it 
becomes large. 
Delonix regia, the Royal Poinciana, 
vies with one other tree (Amherstia 
nobilis) for the position of King of 
Flowering Trees. It is a native of 
Madagascar, but long ago was carried 
all around the tropics and cultivated for 
its glorious flowers and foliage. Its 
marvellously beautiful bipinnate, dark 
green leaves alone would give it a high 
rank among ornamentals. These come 
out a pale, delicate green in April and 
at the same time the tree is covered 
with great masses of bloom, each flower 
being four inches or more in diameter. 
The outside of the thick petals is yellow, 
the inside is red. The petals are 
clawed, a rich warm red and often varie¬ 
gated inside. It blooms, in some cases, 
at intervals well into the summer and 
some trees bear clusters of flowers that 
would not go into a half bushel basket. 
There is considerable variation in 
growth and bloom, and one form is al¬ 
ways low growing and wide spreading 
and is certainly a distinct variety if not 
a separate species. The immense pods 
are striking and rather ornamental, and 
the trees are readily grown here from 
seed and flourish in all kinds of land 
except that which is quite wet. 
Enterolobium cyclocarpum is a hand¬ 
some tree with bipinnate leaves, green¬ 
ish flowers in heads, and pods bent back 
in a complete circle. A rapid grower. 
Erythrina. Coral Tree. A genus of 
leguminous trees with several species, 
all with trifoliate leaves and handsome 
red flowers. The stems and trunks are 
prickly. They are deciduous in winter 
