Antirrhinum, Snapdragon

Too well known to need description. They do well in the cooler part of the state and in the lower part may be grown in winter as annuals.

Aphelandra

Tropical American plants with opposite leaves and four-sided, terminal spikes of brilliant flowers. A. roezeli is dwarf and has rich orange scarlet blossoms. This grows, blooms and seeds itself on the walls of one of my fern pools and is a great ornament. There are other fine species which would probably do well here.

Aquatics

Under this general head it may be well to say a few words about such as do well in Florida. Cyperus alterni-foMus, Umbrella plant, has been found wild in Dade County and will do well in low ground anywhere if the land crabs do not get too friendly. C. papyrus does well in fresh water swamps but has failed with me where there was salt in the soil. Limnobium spongia is a pretty native plant; Limnocharis humboldti, Water Poppy, is a handsome plant with yellow, poppy-like flowers. The Nuphars and Nymphaeas are among our most desirable aquatic ornaments and the species of the latter now offered in the catalogues are superb. Nelumbium is another magnificent genus suitable for cultivation in the state. There are many other desirable aquatics which would probably grow here and it is likely that all or nearly all would go through the winters of the northern part of the state. I see no reason why the great Victorias should not succeed here. In some cases aquatics spread until if they are not cleared out they will take full possession and destroy the effect they were intended to produce.

Bambusa, Bamboo

It is hard to say whether these should be called herbs or shrubs. They are among the princes of the vegetable kingdom and take their place with the palms as gloriously decorative objects. They are the embodiment of grace and elegance; constantly swaying their feathery foliage in the wind, they are often so ethereal that they scarcely seem to be of the earth. I never tire of watching the bamboos for they seem not only to be endowed with life, but to be animate and to possess souls. It would be impossible here to attempt to give any list of the species that have been grown in the state. Professor Nehrling has a large collection of them at Gotha where a considerable number of species do well. One of the finest and hardiest is Dendrocalamus latifolius, which grows in great tufts, sending up its large stems to a height of seventy feet almost as straight as arrows, just tipping out a little at the top like the wonderful foliage of the Cohune Palm. These stems are clothed with deep green, broad leaves nearly a foot long and a couple of inches wide. At one time when I visited Professor Nehrling there grew a majestic group of this bamboo at the corner of his house. The windows of my upstairs sleeping chamber opened out upon it and the moon was at the full. I sat for hours and gazed on this wonderful sight and worshipped. It was a thing of unearthly beauty, a vision that I shall carry with me till the end of my life. B. argentea, B. disticha and B. verticillata are fine and comparatively hardy. A plant sold as Phyllostachys spinosa, which Nehrling says is Bambusa arundinacea, is a splendid, wide-spread species.

Begonia

Too widely known to need much comment. Some of the species do well in the state in good soil and sheltered, half shaded places. They do nicely on the walls of fern pools where there is shade and moisture. They are subject to a fungous disease which is little understood and are also subject to root knot. B. evansiana is quite hardy but most of them are tender.

Bryophyllum Calycinum

Bryophyllum Calycinum is a well-known succulent plant with yellowish red, green and brown flowers; when it once becomes established it will take care of itself and is difficult to eradicate since every leaf will produce a number of plants. Tender.

Buddleia

Ever since I was a child I have been reading about Buddleias and how ornamental they were, but had never seen any of them. Recently I obtained a couple of species, B. bra-ziliensis with spikes of minute, dirty yellow flowers and rough, coarse foliage and B. hemsleyana with a little better leaves, and minute bluish blossoms. Both have grown fast and bloomed freely but neither is good enough to be called a low grade weed.

Caladium

Jared Smith believes that most of our cultivated plants are forms of C. picturatum and C. bicolor. There are many hundreds of named varieties in cultivation and no words can adequately describe the beauty of a large collection such as that of Professor Nehrling at Gotha. They die down in winter in our climate, though in Haiti they are in full glory all through this season. There is every conceivable shading and patterning of green, white, red, pink and yellow and an acre of these in their glory is a sight never to be forgotten. C. roezeli is probably a distinct species with deep green leaves and irregular gray, yellowish green and white spots. They all do best in rich moist ground in partial shade.

Calathea

The species of this genus are ordinarily called Marantas and differ only in technical characters. The leaves are marked with shades of green, red, brown, yellow and white. C. zebrina, well known, has leaves purple beneath and alternating bars of light and pale green above. C. veitchi is very beautiful. They require shade, heat and moisture and are fine for fern pools.

Calceolaria