30 
PLANTS OF DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA 
Pimenta vulgaris, the well-known 
Allspice is a handsome tree, native of 
Jamaica, with long, shining leaves. 
Every part of it is rich with the flavor 
of allspice. I have a tree 12 feet high 
planted in the thick scrub of the ham¬ 
mock which is growing finely. 
Plumeria, Frangipani. I have three 
species, P. alba, with white flowers. P. 
acutifolia, flowers pink and white, and 
P. tricolor, flowers white, yellow and 
red. The thick, succulent stems of these 
small, tropical American trees lose most 
of their leaves in winter. The flowers 
of all are deliciously fragrant, and from 
them frangipani is made. A magnificent 
specimen of the latter species is growing 
in the grounds of Commodore Monroe at 
Cocoanut Grove. They all do well here, 
but are tender. 
Paritium elatum. Cuban Bast Tree. 
A member of the Hibiscus family, with 
immense, nearly circular, cordate leaves 
and large flowers that are a peculiar 
yellow when they open, but later become 
brownish red. I have a large tree in 
the pine land, 40 feet high and as much 
across, that has been constantly in bloom 
for more than five years. 
Saraca indica is a tree with drooping, 
glossy, compound leaves that are of 
waxy texture when they come out, and 
beautifully colored. The orange red 
flowers are handsome, but it has not 
done well for me. It should probably 
have a damp, shady situation. 
Schizolobium excelsum. A rapid 
growing tree from Brazil with splendid 
bipinnate leaves of immense size and 
yellow flowers. Will possibly succeed 
here though it is quite tender. 
Stereospermum suaveolens. A tree 
belonging to the Bignoniacsea, having 
enormous compound leaves and dull red 
trumpet-shaped flowers. It is doing well 
for me. S. sinicum is very fine. 
Sterculia. Several species, which do 
not generally do well here. S. alata 
with immense oval leaves has proven a 
failure with me. I have had S. platani- 
folia six years and though it seems 
healthy it is only three feet high. S. 
carthagenensis is a noble tree, of which 
there is a fine specimen at the Govern¬ 
ment Plant Introduction Garden near 
Miami. 
Spathodea campanulata. _ A magnifi¬ 
cent tree from tropical Africa with fine 
pinnate leaves and clusters of orange 
trumpet-shaped, orange flowers. _ A 
young specimen on pine land is growing 
beautifully. 
Swietenia macrophylla. A magnificent 
tree from the American tropics. It has 
the largest pinnate leaves I have ever 
seen. These it retains for a long time 
and they become highly colored before 
they fall. It is a vigorous, rapid grower, 
apparently quite hardy, and my specimen 
has had no fertilizer though planted in 
pine land. If it stands wind well I pre¬ 
dict that it will make a good tree for 
planting along roads. 
Theobroma, Cacao. A beautiful orna¬ 
mental tree but very tender and it has 
utterly failed with me so far. 
Terminalia catappa is a common but 
exceedingly striking tree. Its branches 
come out in whorls and grow horizon¬ 
tally. The obovate leaves sometimes 
measure 12 inches in width by 22 in 
length, and they turn the most wonder¬ 
fully purplish crimson when cool weather 
comes. It is unfortunately very brittle. 
It flourishes in the poorest soil without 
fertilizer. 
Thespesia. Trees of the Hibiscus 
family, one of which, T. grandiflora, is 
a fine, rapid grower and promises to do 
well here. 
Thevetia nerifolia is a small West 
Indian tree with narrow shining leaves 
and funnel shaped, very fragrant blos¬ 
soms, yellow or salmon colored. It does 
well on our pine land, but should be 
fertilized. The whole tree is very 
poisonous. 
ORNAM^NTAI, FRUIT TREES AND PLANTS. 
In the north it is considered bad taste 
to plant fruit trees in ornamental grounds 
as they generally possess little beauty. 
In the tropics there are many fruit bear¬ 
ing trees which are highly ornamental 
in foliage, flowers and fruit. 
Achras sapota, Sapodilla, is a hand¬ 
some, evergreen, tropical tree with 
elliptical, leathery, shining leaves, the 
