Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 June 1890 — TWO VERY ODD PLANTS. [ARTICLE]

TWO VERY ODD PLANTS.

One of Them U*eful to Check the Growth of Beard. Another very funny plant in the government’s botanical garden is the so-called barber plant, the leaves of which are used in some parts of the East by rubbing on the face to keep the beard from growing. It is not supposed to have any effect' on beard that is already rooted, but merely to act as a preventative boys employing It to keep the hair from getting a start on their faces. It is also employed by some oriental people who desire to keep parts of their heads free from hair, as a matter of fashion. Also found In the botanical garden is the ••Cruel plant,” which is so designated because it catches butterflies and kills them for sheer sport Its flowers attract the poor little flutterer by the honey it offers, and when the victim lights upon it it grabs the butterfly by the head and holds it fast until the captive dies. Then the flower drops it on the ground and lies in wait for • fresh unfortunate.

A curious looking tree from the Isthmus of Panama bears a round red fruit big as an apple, which has this remarkable faculty, that its juice rubbed on tough beef or chicken makes the meat tender by tbe chemical power it possesses to separate tbe fiber. One is interested to observe in the botanical green houses three kind of plants that have real consumption of the lungs— Ine leaves, of course, being the lungs of the plant The disease is manifested by the turning of the leaves from green to white, the affection gradually spreading from one spot until, when a leaf is all white, it is lust about to die. Cruelly enough, as it would seem, the gardeners only try to perpetuate the disease for the sake of beauty and curiosity, all plants of those varieties that are too healthy being thrown away.