Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 December 1883 — The Rain-Tree. [ARTICLE]

The Rain-Tree.

Some travelers in South America, in traversing an arid and desolate tract of country, were struck with a strange contrast. Ou one hand there was a barren desert, on the other a rich and luxuriant vegetation. This remarkable contrast was due to the presence of the Tamai Caspi, or the Rain tree. This tree often grows to the height of sixty feet, with a diameter of three feet at its base, and possesses the power of strongly attracting, absorbing and condensing the atmosphere. Water is always to be seen dripping from its trunk and branches in such quantities as to convert the surrounding soil into a veritable marsh. This tree also grows in the Canary islands and other tropical climates, where it seems like a God-send to the poor people, who must almost perish from thirst during the dry season, were it not for this curious water supply. And what seems most remarkable of all, is that during the hot season, when the streams and lakes are most or quite dried up, the tree is most active, and sends forth abundant supplies of water.