mens in and near Miami. Chinese Wilson 
found old trees when bare of leaves, fas- 
cinatingly ugly, like “a gigantic crow’s 
nest.” He wrote: “It is the bulky trunk 
that is so imposing, being often 100 feet 
in girth and clothed with a smooth bark. 
Thick as is the trunk a bullet from a rifle 
of high velocity will pass right through it 
for its tissues are soft and pulpy. The 
foliage is handsome and so, too, are the 
large white saucer-shaped flowers. The 
fruit is extraordinary, being as large as an 
ostrich’s egg, pointed at both ends, and 
clothed with short yellowish brown hairs 
and hangs from a long stalk. Inside the 
fruit is a white powder which tastes like 
cream-of-tartar. On an island immediately 
above the Victoria Falls of the Zambezi 
River, the missionary explorer, David Liv- 
ingstone, carved his name on a Baobab 
cree when he discovered this eighth won- 
der of the world.” 
“INDIAN ALANGIUM (A. salvifolium 
Syn. A. lamarcki). This straggling shrub 
or small bushy tree allied to our beloved 
Dogwood, is sometimes thorny and_ its 
leaves vary greatly in shape. Ida Col- 
thurst writes: “Whether in flower, fruit or 
foliage, it is strikingly beautiful. When 
bare in February, slowly the tree wraps it- 
self in a fluffy mantle of white; these are 
the filamentous fragrant flowers, most 
charming to the eye and still more worthy 
of appreciation if they are minutely ex- 
amined; it will then be discovered that the 
silky petals are 5 to 10, about one inch 
long, with those facing the morning sun 
faintly tinged with pink.” Benthall says: 
“The plant is never quite leafless, but 
when the flowers appear the branches are 
almost bare of leaves, and then for a 
short period have considerable beauty.” 
CHINESE ALANGIUM (A. chinense). 
There are 22 species of Alangium scat- 
tered through the eastern tropics. I 
have no description of this one. Dr. Fair- 
child brought one from the Philippines 
(A. longiflorum) with 2%-inch fragrant 
white tubular flowers. 
ALBERTA (A. magna). Small orna- 
mental tree from Natal, with thick oppo- 
site, dark green leaves and reddish young 
tranches. The 1-inch reddish-purple flow- 
ers are in erect clusters in January-F ebru- 
ary (in Natal). This tree belongs to the 
Ixora family. 
AMORPHA (A. sp.) This genus com- 
prises 15 species of trees and shrubs in the 
pea family with butterfly-like blossoms. 
The seed came from Uruguay but I have 
no description. 
- GUIANA ARDISIA (A. acuminata). 
Another attractive evergreen shrub for 
our gardens, 2 to 7 feet high, with glossy 
reen 5-inch foliage and clusters of small 
white flowers. 
STRONGBACK  (Bourreria ovata). 
Here is a Florida native tree in the Cordia 
family that grows to 25 feet or more, is 
extremely storm resistant, and blooms 
handsomely with clusters of fragrant small 
white flowers. 
BERRIA 
"MOUNTAIN ROSE (Brownea cocci- 
nea). One of the 12 kinds of Brownea 
trees famed for their beautiful flowers, 
this small evergreen from Trinidad and 
Venezuela rises rarely to 40 feet. It 
bears conspicuous bright scarlet flowers 
in dense, rosette-like clusters on the 
woody branches and on the trunk, often 
quite close to the ground. Individual 
ano re 
