Show odd uses for plants trees in distant lands A cousin of the familiar pea flower called is used in the west indies and polynesia for a very form of angling the crushed leaves and stems are thrown into the river where the fish are quickly stupefied and easily caught another west indian the hog gum tree is so called because wounded hogs rub the injured parts against the tree to smear themselves with the abundant resin it exudes which heals their wounds this resin is so powerful that the natives make torches of the branches another light giving plant is the candleberry tree a native of polynesia related to our common spurge notes a writer in london tit bits magazine the kernels of the walnut like fruit are so rich in oil that they are stuck on reeds and used as candles certain of the fiji islanders never use forks except when the they Y eat th their air neighbors they make these forks of casuarina a tree that looks like a huge specimen of our common horsetail horse tail each fork bears a name and is handed down as an heirloom from generation to generation the cow tree a native of south america corresponding to the familiar breadfruit bread fruit yields a milk practically indistinguishable from ordinary cows milk in chemical composition and nourishing qualities from which excellent cream and cheese are made linnaeus the famous eighteenth century swedish botanist made a sort of floral clock the dial consisted of names of flowers arranged in the order of their opening and closing hour by hour the dandelion for example opens about 5 a m and closes about 9 p m greater accuracy is obtained from a japanese form of magnolia the watchmen use the powdered bark for burning in graduated tubes to mark the time by the regular combustion of the powder perhaps the limit of queer uses of plants is reached in the case of plumbago related to thrift and sea pink the fresh root is a powerful blistering agent and the beggars of san domingo use it to raise ulcers on their bodies in the hope of exciting the sympathy of the passersby passers by |