The most noticeable tree in Border No. 21, is a luxuriant specimen of the Moreton Bay Pine (Araucaria Cunninghamii). In the succeeding Border, No. 21 a, is another of the Eucalypti, the leaves of which, it is curious to remark, change from round to lance-shaped as the tree advances in growth; and in the further corner is the Geitonoplesium, a trailing plant of the same order as the common Asparagus. In Border No. 23 a, just opposite the column, is the Peppermint tree, of Australia (Epyclautus piperata).
We now pass through the division into the Tropical end of the building, where necessarily many of the most interesting and beautiful of trees and plants are congregated. Most of the examples we have hitherto examined have borne, more or less, some resemblance, if not in detail yet in character, to the vegetation which we everywhere see around us in England. But here we notice a new form, reputed to surpass them all, and at least very rich in those glories which have won its repute,—we mean the Palms. This form of vegetation gives more distinctive character to tropical and eastern scenery, than any other natural feature. The stem often rising to the altitude of 100 feet, in a stately column, crowned with a capital of beautiful leaves, radiating from its summit, or gracefully drooping; sometimes of a feathery form, sometimes fan-shaped of broader growth; some of dark, shining verdure, and others of a delicate silvery aspect: they constitute one of the most beautiful families of the vegetable kingdom. The leaves of some kinds are gigantic; those of the Manicaria saccifera, of Brazil, are 20 feet in length, and six feet in breadth. Humboldt has described the Wax Palm of the Cordilleras growing to the majestic height of 180 feet. Nearly all varieties are most prolific in fruit, and with most, scarcely a portion but what is applied to some use by the natives of the countries they inhabit. Their great importance, then, to many of the human family entitles them to particular study and attention, beyond the brief mention we can give them here; and the pleasant task will be well repaid.
The Borders in the Tropical Division are numbered distinctively from the other part of the building, commencing with Border No. 1, in which is a plant of the India-Rubber-tree, which is probably the largest of its kind in the building, and nearer to the corner is a specimen of the Wine Palm (Caryota Urens). On the side opposite the Court will be found the silk Cotton-tree of India (Bombax Ceiba), and, further round, the Sandbox-tree of India (Hernandia Sonora). In Border No. 3, which corresponds in position on the other side of the Alhambra Court, is an Egyptian Date Palm, and also a Wax Palm from South America. In Border No. 5 we notice a group of Musæ, amongst which beautiful class of plants are the Banana and Plantain, perhaps the commonest and most nutritious of tropical fruits. Hemp and flax are obtained from the fibrous leaves, which are also used for thatching and basket-making. A sort of wine is made from the juice of the trunk. The fruit is eaten both raw and cooked, while the young shoots are consumed as vegetables. In the centre of this Border, which runs along parallel with the Alhambra Court, is one of the species of Sago (Saguerus sacchifera); another kind (Cycas revoluta) is near the column. The Indians as well as Chinese procure Sago from this tree. The Sago is prepared from the pith of the trunk, selected however at a proper season; it is made into bread by the natives who prepare it, and from this it has received its name, which in the language of the Papuas means bread. It is more prolific in nutritious matter than perhaps any agricultural plant, a single trunk sometimes yielding as much as 600lbs. of Sago. Round these Sago Palms is arranged a collection of various specimens of the Fig tribe (Ficus) from South America. Between the centre columns is a plant of the Jatropha Manihot, whose root is one of the most important articles of food in the tropics; it is made into bread called Cazavi or Cassava, which is very nutritious; and Tapioca is also obtained from it. A very poisonous juice has first to be extracted by pressure, or eliminated by heat, before the root can be prepared for food. In the corner of the Border we are now inspecting is another tree, from which also bread is made; this is the Caffre Bread-tree (Encephalortus.) The natives remove the bark and make flour from the trunk.
We may now turn into the Avenue of Sphinxes, between which is arranged a rich collection of beautiful Palms—Cocos, Date-Palms, Wine-Palms, Cabbage-Palms, and many other varieties. At the corner as we turn again into the Nave stands the Cocos plumosa, a peculiarly beautiful specimen, which may be remembered as having adorned the Great Exhibition in 1851.
We now arrive at Borders No. 7 and 9, opposite the Assyrian Court. In this position is arranged a selection of tropical fruit plants, and of those bearing articles of food. It will not be necessary to do much more than enumerate most of these, as their produce is so well known, and forms the daily or occasional food of most. At this end of the Border will be found the Tamarind-tree, the Pepper-plant, the Sea-side Grape, from the West Indies, the Coffee-tree, the Chili-Capsicum, the fruit of which makes a delicious pickle, the Jujube, the Assam Tea-plant, so extensively cultivated by the East India Company, the Cow-tree of the Caraccas, and, advancing up the front of the Border, two kinds of Ginger, the common and a spurious kind, the Rose-apple of the East Indies, the Avocado Pear, and the Peruvian Custard-apple, at the back of which is the Castor-oil plant, the Jack-tree, and the Malabar Nut. We continue the collection with the Star-apple of the West Indies, the Madagascar Nutmeg, the Allspice, and the Cassia Bark. We here meet a fine group of fruiting Bananas, beyond which we shall notice with interest the Indian Mimusops, and the plant from which our common Black Pepper is derived (Piper nigrum). The Dimocarpus Longan, and the Chinese Litchi-Fruit tree, are near, as well as a most interesting plant called the Ordeal-tree, from Madagascar. The fruit is a sort of bean, and deadly poisonous. When the priests in Madagascar wish to rid themselves of a state enemy, or to remove a rich man for the sake of his goods, recourse is had to some pretence, and an ordeal is instituted which consists in eating the fruit of this tree, harmless of course to the innocent, but to the guilty, poisonous. The crafty priests carry out their views by substituting an innocuous berry similar in appearance, excepting where they wish the pretended guilt to manifest itself with death.
The arrangement of the corresponding Border, No. 9, is very similar to that which we now quit, but we shall find here in addition, the Cinnamon-tree, the Peruvian Bark, the Bohea Tea-tree, the leaves of which we daily consume as plain black tea, another kind of Allspice (Myrtus pimenta longifolia), the Guava of West India, a most delicious and well-known fruit, the Sapodilla Plum, and the Chinese Paper Plant. In the small Border near the aviary, which terminates the series on this side, is an interesting specimen called the Looking Glass Plant, from the silvery appearance of the underside of the leaf. Here also is a magnificent example of the Black Bamboo, the canes of which are used for a great variety of useful purposes, and for ornament as well. The rapid growth of this plant is astounding, the shoots of the present specimen having often increased in height at the rate of more than 12 inches daily.
In the centre of this, the northern extremity of the Nave, rises one of the finest specimens to be met with in this country of the noble Sabal Palmetto. This tree represents the extensive group of Palms, having palmate or fan-shaped leaves. A curious fibre hangs in graceful ringlets from the foliage. On the right hand of this splendid tree, we commence our return down the garden side of the Nave with Border No. 10. In the corner stands a large group of Bamboos. This species attains a much greater size than its cogener on the other side: in its native wilds the stems often exceed the height of 100 feet, the growth of a single season. The stems seldom grow higher after the first year, but become densely clothed with delicate leafy branches. This may almost be called the domestic Bamboo, as it furnishes material for an almost infinite variety of domestic articles. In this Border are two other large varieties of Palm. The first Corypha sylvestris, from New Holland, is, like the Sabal Palmetto, a Fan-Palm. The Coryphæ are so called from Koryphe, the summit, as the leaves branch only from the top of the trunk, making a very stately and beautiful form. This tree surmounts a group of root-work, upon which are planted rare Orchids, Ferns, and a variety of other beautiful exotics. The large Borders on this side of the Tropical Department are mostly made in this picturesque manner. If we now pass on we find close to the column a large Coffee-tree, from Yemen, which in the autumn bears its interesting berries. Close to this is a lofty Screw Pine (Pandanus odoratissimus) from the East Indies. The flowers of this tree are so deliciously fragrant that in Egypt and Arabia it is often cultivated for their sake; the fruit somewhat resembles the pine-apple, but is not so good. In the South Sea Islands, where this species grows in great plenty, the natives convert its leaves and products into a variety of uses and ornaments. It has received its name from the screw-like arrangement of its foliage, and not from the appearance of the trunk. It will be noticed that the roots are partially above ground, and constitute a kind of support which strengthens according to the peculiarities of position in which the tree grows. The roots from some of the Pandani descend thus, like tightly strained cords, from a height of 12 or 15 feet. The great Palm-tree in the centre of this bed is upwards of 40 feet high. It is from the Isle of Bourbon (Latania Borbonica), and once formed part of the renowned collection at Fontainebleau of the Empress Josephine. We are now standing under the luxuriant branches of the Ficus Roxburgii, a curious Fig-tree which bears its fine fruit on the stem close to the ground. Further back, on the left of the great Palm, is a Mahogany-tree from Honduras, and a fine fruit-bearing specimen, 14 feet high, of the delicious Guava. But it is impossible here to particularise the rich contents of these Borders; as in our progress through the whole collection we are forced almost casually to choose from so many objects of interest; but it is hoped that the mention only of these may awake an interest which investigation will increase.
At the back of the Border just mentioned, is arranged a large collection of exotic plants in pots, amongst which will be found the Gamboge tree, and the Bread Fruit tree, from the South Sea Islands. Also the Strychnine plant (Strychnos Nux vomica), the nuts of which contain the deadly poison of that name.
At the corner of the succeeding Border, No. 8, next the garden, is one of the most valuable and rare specimens in the kingdom, of the beautiful Araucaria Cookii from New Caledonia. The soft and luxuriant foliage of this tree, and the surpassing beauty of its form, every branch, with its rich pendulous load falling most symmetrically in a regular gradation of graceful positions, constitute it one of the most beautiful of its kind in the whole vegetable kingdom. Numerous specimens of Palms and of the beautiful flowering plants and shrubs of the Tropics adorn this division. A splendid example of the Gum Dragon tree of Teneriffe (Dracæna Draco), the same kind as the famous tree of Oratova; also a New Holland Palm (Seaforthia robusta), are found here. Here also is the Traveller’s tree from Madagascar, the grateful shade it affords having gained it its name. The Palm bearing the highest position in this bed is the Sabal Blackburnianum, the leaves of which are amongst the largest of their kind. Against the column at the south-west corner of the bed, in the Nave, hangs the curious Elk’s Horn Fern (Platycerum grande), from Australia. This parasite abounds on the rocks and the bark of the large trees in the forests of Moreton Bay.
Before quitting the Tropical Department we will now continue our inspection of the Borders on the east side of the Nave. It is unnecessary to particularise the plants in these Borders, as they have been purposely arranged in as much uniformity as possible with the corresponding collection on the other side. Opposite the Byzantine Court may however be noticed four funereal Cypresses from the Vale of Tombs, in North China, and in Border No. 4 a graceful plant of the Fig tribe (Ficus Pumila) from China, and the handsome New Zealand Laurel (Carynocarpus lævigatus). On the northern side of the South Transept, in Border No. 6, is the Nepaul Berbery (Berberis Nepaulensis). This specimen is remarkable for its height and beauty of foliage. It is a newly introduced species. At the back of this tree will also be found a fine example of the New Zealand Flax (Phormium tenax). In Border No. 6, at the end of the Transept, is the Brazilian Pine (Araucaria Braziliensis). A remarkable specimen of the Australian Fig tree (Ficus macrophylla), is in Border No. 2.