In the northern part of the state a low growing fan palm (Sabal adansoni) is found, mostly in moist ground, which somewhat resembles the saw palmetto. It has been placed by some botanists in with the genus Inodes but the most obvious difference is that this species has flat leaves while in all the Inodes the midrib is curved back toward the summit of the leaf. This low Sabal does finely on pine land and is a good species for borders of groups of palms.

Growing in the same general region as the last is the porcupine palm, Rhapidophyllum hystrix, which has fan-shaped leaves that are silvery underneath and is armed with many long spines or needles. It is an exceedingly slow grower but is well worth cultivating in shaded situations, and when in bloom is very attractive.

The Genus Thrinax

The Genus Thrinax, comprising fan-leaved, usually slender stemmed, palms is represented in Florida by four species, all of them living on the lower keys and the extreme southern part of the mainland. Until recently the species have been in much confusion, it having been believed that all of ours were West Indian forms. Not long ago Professor C. S. Sargent discovered that three of these were new and bestowed new names on them and described them.

T. Floridana

T. Floridana has been sold as T. parviflora and was so named by Vasey. It has been found on the southwest coast of the state from Cape Romano to Cape Sable and on several of the lower keys. The leaves are yellow green above and silvery beneath, and the slightly tapering stem is from four to six inches in diameter; the tree occasionally reaches a height of thirty feet.

T. Keyensis

T. Keyensis is a stouter tree than the last, as its stem sometimes reaches a diameter of fourteen inches, with rather smooth, ashen gray bark. It has large, thin leaves which are silvery underneath and dark green above. It has been reported from the Marquesas and Crab Keys, but lately was found by Mr. John Soar and the writer on Pumpkin Key. It has a base of thick, matted roots.

T. Microcarpa

T. Microcarpa is a taller and more slender species than the last and has no basal enlargement: the under side of the leaves is silvery.

T. Wendlandiana

T. Wendlandiana is a very common form on the lower keys and on parts of the south shore of the mainland, also in Cuba. This species has been continually confused by botanists, having been identified under several other names. The writer called Professor Sargent's attention to the fact that its leaves were green beneath and insisted that it was new to Florida, and when specimens were submitted to Beccari, the Italian palm expert, he pronounced it to be this Cuban species. The leaves often show a tendency to face each other in parallel series. It has a taller and more slender stem than our other species.

Coccothrinax Jucunda

Coccothrinax Jucunda is a beautiful palm which grows on several of the lower keys and is closely related to Thrinax. It has a smooth, brownish gray stem and elegant, glossy, fan leaves which are brilliantly silvered beneath. It rarely reaches a height of twenty-five feet, but when finely grown is a most beautiful object.

C. Garberi

C. Garberi is very much like jucunda but is smaller in all its parts, and, if possible, is more beautiful and more satiny beneath its leaves. It grows only, so far as is known, along the shores of Biscayne Bay.

All the species of the Thrinax group that have come under my notice grow slowly at first but all are beautiful either as pot plants or in the open where they are not subject to frost. They grow more rapidly when they attain to some size and are perfectly at home in partial shade or sunshine and in all soils from damp muck to high pine land.

Pseudophoenix Sargenti

Pseudophoenix Sargenti is a pinnate leaved palm which has been found in a wild state on Elliott's Key and, according to Sargent, on the east end of Key Largo near the northern shore. It is a rather slender, stiff looking palm with very dark green foliage, and though a striking tree is not nearly so ornamental as some of our other native palms. I understand that it is practically extinct in the localities I have given as many specimens have been dug up and taken away to be planted, but it does well in cultivation.

Two species of fan palms belonging to the genus Acoelorraphe are found growing in almost inaccessible swamps in extreme South Florida. A. arborescens belongs to the Chokoloskee River region and reaches a height of forty feet with more or less recumbent or erect stems, often in clusters. I found a single specimen of what I suppose is this species back of Flamingo, near Whitewater Bay.

A. Wrighti

A. Wrighti is found in similar situations to the last along the south coast of the mainland. It grows in immense clumps fifty feet or more across and thirty feet high, and when seen in such masses it is a beautiful object. The latter species is growing finely in moist ground at Mr. John Soar's place and without doubt the former would succeed in a like situation.

Lastly The Coconut (Cocos Nucifera)

Lastly The Coconut (Cocos Nucifera) has been completely naturalized on the Florida Keys and the lower mainland. It is cultivated occasionally as far north as Manatee on the west coast and Fort Pierce on the east coast. No words can adequately describe the beauty of this palm, which is as fine and vigorous in many of the lower Floridian localities as it is within the tropics.

I have entered into some detail in my account of our native palms because all of them are well worthy of cultivation and it is probable that all of them may be successfully grown. The cabbage palmetto, the porcupine palm, the saw palmetto and Sabal will prove hardy without doubt throughout most of the state; the other species will, most likely, only succeed in the lower part of it. It is probable that the species which grow in swamps will, with liberal feeding, do well on high ground.