1883.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
375 
with great vigor, more like the stem of a 
sunflower, than a shoot of a hard-wooded 
tree. These grow sis or eight feet high, and 
are clothed by enormous leaves, 20 inches or 
more across, and so much larger than the 
leaves upon the older branches, that the two 
would not be supposed to belong to the same 
tree. This peculiarity of the foliage, and the 
readiness with which the new shoots start up 
when the tree is felled, have led to its use to 
produce foliage effects in ornamental garden¬ 
ing. A Paulownia, cut back yearly, will 
push up a vigorous stem, with a luxuriant 
display of foliage that can hardly be produced 
in any other manner. Of all trees for pro¬ 
ducing unusual forms of leaves, the Paper 
Mulberry (. Broussonettia papyrifera) is the 
most remarkable. The departure is not so 
much in size, though this is often considera¬ 
ble, as in the outline of the leaves. The Pa¬ 
per Mulberry was introduced many years 
ago as a shade tree, and being a rapid grow¬ 
er, was for a while popular. The tree has 
remarkable vitality, and when cut down, or, 
as often happens, it being a weak tree, is 
blown down by storms, new shoots spring up 
from the old stump. These shoots, as well 
as those often produced at the base of a 
standing tree, bear leaves of a wonderful va¬ 
riety of form. Leaves from such shoots are 
occasionally sent us, to learn the name of the 
tree. Upon the branches of an old tree the 
leaves are of regular form, being usually 
ovate (egg-shaped) in outline. Upon the 
young shoots, caused to spring up from the 
base by injury to the tree, and sometimes 
they appear without apparent cause, the 
leaves deviate from the usual shape in a most 
remarkable manner. Sometimes they are 
three-lobed, and again cut up into many 
lobes, with no two alike. The engraving of 
a twig shows leaves of the usual form and 
others that are lobed, but sometimes stranger 
forms appear than any that are here given. 
Coltsfoot as a Weed. 
A list of the most troublesome weeds 'of 
our fields and gardens would show that the 
great majority are of foreign origin. Some 
come from other countries, but most of our 
weeds are from Europe, and many of these, 
under more favorable conditions, take on a 
development and assume an aggressive char¬ 
acter unknown to them at home. Coltsfoot 
is a plant which is known as a bad weed in 
Europe, but while it was introduced here 
many years ago, it has spread but little, and 
has nowhere, so far as we are aware, become 
an obstacle to cultivation. On account of its 
manner of growth, Coltsfoot is a very in¬ 
teresting plant, and appearing in March and 
April, its bright yellow flowers are among 
the earliest in spring. Coltsfoot, as the en¬ 
graving shows, belongs to the great Com¬ 
posite Family. Its heads of flowers are borne 
singly upon stems six inches or more high ; 
these flower-stems are usually in small 
clumps ; they are pale-green or brownish, 
and in place of leaves, have numerous narrow 
scales, and are more or less covered with a 
loose cottony down. The heads are droop¬ 
ing in the bud, but erect at flowering time, 
and are from an inch to an inch and a half 
across. The leaves do not appear until after 
the flowers have withered; they are six inches 
or more across, roundish, heart-shaped, the 
margin with angular lobes. The upper sur¬ 
face is somewhat downy, while the under¬ 
side is white with an abundant cottony down. 
The root-stock, or underground stem, is re¬ 
markable for its vigor, and the distance to 
which it runs just below the surface, throw¬ 
ing off branches and spreading in every 
direction. Each fragment of this will 
produce a plant, and it is said that if 
buried deeply by the plow, it will retain 
its vitality many years, and grow when 
again brought near the surface. Hav¬ 
ing a fondness for old-fashioned plants, 
we some years ago, with some trouble, 
procured the Coltsfoot and planted it at 
the base of a rock-work. For a few 
springs its early flowers were veiy 
pleasing, but not finding them one sea¬ 
son, we supposed that winter had killed 
the plant. A few days after our atten¬ 
tion was attracted by a bright spot near 
a fence, and there was our Coltsfoot 
flourishing as well as ever, some six feet 
from where we planted it. This habit 
of spreading, which makes the plant a 
bad weed in England, also allows it to 
be useful in binding the soil of railway 
embankments. The botanical name of 
Coltsfoot is Tussilago Farfara. The 
generic name is from Tussis, a cough, 
with reference to its medical uses. 
Farfarus was an ancient name of the 
white poplar, the leaves of which those 
of the plant somewhat resemble. Colts¬ 
foot is a name given from the shape 
of the leaf; in some parts of England 
this plant is called Asses-foot, Bull’s- 
foot, Horse-hoof, etc. The plant has been 
used from the earliest times as a remedy 
for coughs, in the form of a tea, and the 
leaves were smoked for the same pur¬ 
pose. Modern medical men do not find it 
superior to flax-seed or other mucilageous 
articles. The cottony down from the lower 
surface of the leaves, soaked in a solution of 
saltpetre and dried, has been used as tinder. 
The Cocoa Plum. 
Those persons who visit Florida can, if they 
are interested in such matters, make the ac¬ 
quaintance of a number of wild fruits. 
Among these is the Cocoa Plum, of which 
some speak in high praise. The Cocoa Plum 
is Chrysobcilanus Icaco (the generic name 
meaning “ golden acorn ”); the genus is now 
placed in a sub-order of the Rose Family, and 
differs from Prunus, the common Plum, in 
points only of interest to the botanist. It is 
a shrub from six to twelve feet high, pro¬ 
ducing white flowers, the arrangement of 
which, as well as the shape of the leaves, and 
an outline of the fruit, will be seen in the 
engraving. It is very common in all of the 
West India islands, and in Florida it is con¬ 
fined to the southern portion of the State. 
The fruit, in size and general appearance, is 
much like a common plum, but is remarka¬ 
bly variable in color, some being white, others 
yellow, while it is not rare to find specimens 
with red or purple fruit. The pulp is sweet, 
and though a little austere at first, most per¬ 
sons become very fond of the fruit. In 
Jamaica and others of the West Indies, a 
conserve prepared from the pulp is an im¬ 
portant article of domestic trade. The kernel 
yields an oil on expression. The leaves and 
roots are astringent and employed as local 
remedies. We are not aware that any at¬ 
tempts have been made to improve the Cocoa 
Plum by cultivation. It appears to be a 
promising subject for some of the intelligent 
fruit-growers of Florida, to experiment with, 
and we should be pleased to hear of its de¬ 
THE COCOA PLUM. 
velopment into a standard fruit under proper 
care. There are doubtless many additions to 
be made to the orchard and garden products. 
