Page 55 - All Scale Rails Magazine Issue 19 March april 2018

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Warm, humid air greets us in the Tropical
dome. Over 1,200 types of plants thrive in
here, as well as some tropical birds. This
dome has rainforest plants. These are used
for food, spices, lumber, dyes, varnishes, la-
tex, oils, pharmaceuticals (medicine), and
houseplants. You’ll find starfruit trees, avo-
cado, guava, neem (a natural insecticide and
also used for medicinal purposes), carda-
mom, bamboo, jasmine, cocoa, and vanilla.
Did you know that the vanilla bean is the
fruit of an orchid and chocolate beans are the
fruit of a tree? You will also find black pep-
per plants, grapefruit trees, a wide variety of
ferns, and a chicle tree in this dome. (Chi-
clet® gum is made from the sap of this tree.)
There is a looming banana tree in the Tropi-
cal dome. There are also certain poisonous
plants hiding in tropical areas, such as strych-
nine from Strychnos nux-vomica and curare
from Chondrodendron tementosum.
Some of the plants that you see in this
dome you may recognize in your own house,
such as some of the orchids, ferns, amaryllis,
hibiscus, and bromeliads. The tallest plant
here is the Kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra),
which is 85 feet tall.

Issue # 19 2018 55