38 
PLANTS OP DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA 
and very showy brick red flowers but is 
very difficult to propagate. I have a very 
fine’ vine of it. B. glabra is a more deli¬ 
cate vine but when well grown is a fine 
climber. 
Cereus. A few species do well here. 
C. nycticalus and C. grandiflorus sprawl 
around the bases of trees, sometimes 
climbing by air roots and bloom beauti¬ 
fully here in spring or early summer. C. 
triangularis has become naturalized at 
the Punch Bowl, south of Miami. I 
have seen a specimen clambering over a 
live oak at the residence of Mr. John 
Soar, at Little River, with over 50 flow¬ 
ers open, each averaging a foot or more 
across. Several other climbing species 
promise well here. 
Cryptostegia grandiflora is a rampant 
vine with glossy leaves and handsome, 
purplish, bell-shaped, starry flowers a 
couple of inches across. C. madagas- 
cariensis has red veined leaves but has 
not yet bloomed for me. Both produce 
rubber. 
Dioscorea alata and one or two other 
species, the yams of the tropics, are 
rapid growers during the warm season, 
but die down in late winter. They have 
strikingly handsome, large leaves and in¬ 
teresting, triangular, winged flowers and 
seed. 
Entada scandens. The great brown, 
flattened seeds of this West Indian vine 
are often washed up on our shores and 
I have planted many of them. They 
sometimes germinate and even grow to 
a height of 20 feet, but for some reason 
die, yet I hope sometime to succeed with 
it. The vine has delicate, bipinnate 
leaves and climbs by means of tendrils. 
Its enormous, twisted pods are from six 
to eight feet long. 
Euonvmus radicans has completely 
failed with me though I have often tried 
it in various situations. 
Gelsemium sempervirens, Carolina 
Jessamine, is a native of North Florida 
but probably does not grow wild in Dade 
County. It is sparingly cultivated here 
but does not always do well. 
Gloriosa superba and virescens, two 
lovely vines bearing flowers variegated 
red and yellow, resembling lilies, are cul¬ 
tivated here occasionally, but succeed 
only moderately with me. 
Hoya carnosa, the well known wax 
plant, is doing well in my slat house, but 
has not, so far, succeeded well out of 
doors. 
Ipomoea, or Morning Glory. An im¬ 
mense genus, several species of which do 
well here. I. tuberosa has fine, glossy, 
palmate leaves and bright golden flowers 
in winter that look as though they were 
varnished. I. sidifolia forms immense, 
knotted, ribbed stems, running to a great 
distance and bearing in large clusters, 
unnumbered rather small, white flowers 
with a greenish center. They are much 
sought for by bees. It blooms about 
Christmas and is called Christmas Vine. 
I have one which covers an extensive 
chicken yard fence and house and a quar¬ 
ter of an acre of ground, and I have esti¬ 
mated that an average of a million flow¬ 
ers opened on this vine every day for six 
weeks. 
I. horsfallise has lobed leaves and ele¬ 
gant deep crimson, glossy flowers, per¬ 
haps the finest of all. A beautiful vine 
of this covers a pergola at Dr. John Gif¬ 
ford’s place in Cocoanut Grove. A num¬ 
ber of other species do well here. 
Lonicera or honeysuckle. L. japonica 
is cultivated here and does fairly well. 
Monstera deliciosa. A remarkable vine 
making a very strong growth and hav¬ 
ing colossal leaves, lacinated at the edges 
and full of natural holes. It attaches it¬ 
self to trees or cliffs by aerial roots and 
sends down feed roots from great ele¬ 
vations. The plant is an Aroid and its 
great white spathe is cream colored, boat 
shaped, and almost as thick as one’s 
hand. Charles Kingsley states that when 
it is opening a heat is generated sufficient 
to sensibly affect the thermometer. This 
is true of the flowers of Victoria. The 
fruit is elongated and cone-like and 
ripens 18 months after the flower blooms, 
I have a grand specimen planted in my 
hammock which climbs a mastic tree and 
is now over 20 feet high and sometimes 
has one crop of fruit on it and sometimes 
two. It is the Ceriman of the West In¬ 
dies. 
