gleam and burn as if it were decorated with many flaming lights.” 
In Indian gardens they have a pink variety (S. Roxburghi) and a 
white (S. amoena), but they are unknown in Florida. We do have, 
however, a dwarf form of the BELL FLAMBEAUTREE, known as Spatho- 
dea nilotica and the crimson flowers are down where you can look at 
them. I have a few small plants but the trees are comparatively rare 
and botanists are not quite sure it is a distinct species. 
STEREOSPERMUM SUAVEOLENS. (Bignoniaceae). Brandis 
describes this as a large tree, sometimes 70-80 feet though usually 
much smaller in dry areas. It has “exquisitely fragrant,” dull, dark 
crimson flowers that are 1% inches long in large, lax, sticky sprays. The 
old leaves are shed in India in April and the flowers appear before or 
with the new leaves in May. I originally obtained this tree from the 
old home place of that distinguished Florida botanist, Charles Torrey 
Simpson, who wrote of it: “A small crooked tree that sprouts very 
freely. Occasionally it forms its strange, lurid flowers which are 
ill-scented.” Because of the odor and because “lurid” means “ghastly 
pale,” I suspect these two botanists were writing about two different 
trees. ; 
CASUARINA SP. (Casuarineae). These trees I raised from seed 
that came from an “Australian pine” at Clearwater, Fla., which bears 
red flowers, believe it or not. It was collected by Hubert Buckley of 
St. Petersburg, now dead, who was a plant fancier of considerable 
experience. The Casuarinas in their native Australia are called “She- 
Oaks” because of the peculiar noise the wind makes going through 
their branches and because of the oak-like patterns in the timber. 
My only speculation on the red flowers reported by Buckley is that 
possibly the purplish-red styles which “elegantly fringe the flower 
cones” in some species, may be more pronounced than usual in the 
Clearwater tree. Time will tell. 
PINK-FLOWERED TREES 
KLEINHOVIA HOSPITA. (Sterculiaceae). Guest Tree. Classed 
by Macmillan as one of the world tropics’ outstanding flowering trees, 
this evergreen from Southern India reaches 25 to 45 feet with a spread- 
ing top and has light green, heart-shaped 4-inch leaves. It bears large, 
upright sprays of pink or rose flowers at the ends of the branches. 
The individual flowers are not large and have no odor, but they are 
in bunches 6 to 14 inches long. In Ceylon it flowers chiefly in July 
and August, thriving best in the moist low country. The tree is suitable 
for avenue planting and is much used for this purpose in Calcutta. 
Corner says the tree is admired as a roadside tree in Malaya ae does 
well on sandy soil. 
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