Dictyosperma Rubra And Alba

Dictyosperma Rubra And Alba are among our finest and most successful palms, both doing equally well in shade or sunshine, in pine or hammock. They are rather rapid growers and should be cultivated by everybody in lower Florida.

Dypsis Madagascariensis

I have plants received under this name that I am doubtful about. My plants are rapid growers with leaflets in fascicles; they are cespitose and have triangular stems.

Elaeis Guineensis

Elaeis Guineensis is the celebrated Oil Palm of Tropical Africa. It does well for me in ordinary pine land and has borne seed when quite small.

Euterpe

A small genus of slender growing palms from the American Tropics. I have had several species which for some reason have not succeeded but I see no reason why they will not do well in lower Florida.

Geonoma

Very elegant, usually slender palms from Tropical America. They do best in a shaded, moist locality, such as a low hammock, but they probably will not stand much frost.

Hedyscepe Canterburyana

Hedyscepe Canterburyana is cultivated somewhat in the north and is a tall, handsome, spineless palm. It is a native of Lord Howe's Island at a considerable elevation and should stand some frost. I have a healthy young specimen in my grounds.

Howea Belmoreana And Forsteriana

Howea Belmoreana And Forsteriana are two of the most popular palms of the north. I have never succeeded with the former and have only partly done so with the latter. I do not think they have done well generally in Florida.

Hydriastele Wendlandiana

Hydriastele Wendlandiana is a tall, handsome, rapid growing palm from Queensland. The segments of the leaflets are jagged at their outer edges something like those of a fish tail palm. I have a fine young specimen in partial shade in the edge of the hammock.

Hyophorbe

Three species of slow growing palms from Mauritius, two of which, H. verschaffeltii and H. amaricaulis have been considerably cultivated in lower Florida. They are stocky in growth, with bulging stems and short, highly colored leaves, the former tinted yellowish, the latter purple. Both are doing well with me and I have no doubt but that they will prove to be among our finest palm ornaments.

Jubaea

A genus from Chile containing one or two of the hardiest palms in the world. They are slow growers when young and have some resemblance to the date palms.

Kentia

A large number of palms have been referred to this genus which are now placed elsewhere and I am not sure that any of the true Kentias are in cultivation in the state. K. belmoreana and K. forsteriana are now placed in Howea.

Martinezia Caryotaefolia

Martinezia Caryotaefolia is sometimes cultivated in lower Florida but I have rarely seen it in good condition. It is a rather slender, spiny palm with broad, closely set, truncate and ragged segments.

Manicaria

This genus contains a few magnificent species from Tropical America which are really pinnate leaved but often the pinnae are not separated and the leaves are more or less entire. In M. sacchifera the leaves are not divided and are often thirty feet long and four or five wide. I do not know that any of these have been cultivated in the state but they should be tried.

Maximiliana

Maximiliana contains a few species of grand tropical American palms which should be tried in extreme southern Florida. It was of M. regia, of the Orinoco, that Humboldt said, "On this palm nature has lavished every charm".

Oenocarpus

Oenocarpus is a small group of South American palms, one species of which (0. disticha) has the leaves arranged in two ranks. None of them has been tried here to my knowledge, but they should be.

Oreodoxa

O. borinquena is a fine species from Porto Rico, not so lofty as the common royal palm. 0. oleracea is a tall, noble species from the Antilles. 0. regia, the common royal palm, is grown everywhere in lower Florida.

Phoenix, The Date Palms

This is probably the most useful genus of palms cultivated in Florida, though Inodes and Cocos are close competitors. There are some twenty or more nominal species in cultivation here, and all of them do finely so far as my experience goes, either in pine, hammock or wet land. Several of the hardiest, such as P. dactylifera, P. canariensis, P. sylvestris and P. tenuis stand the winters very well as far north as Gotha and probably farther, though Mr. C. E. Pleas reports that they are a little tender at Chipley. P. acaulis does not form a stem, the trunk being bulbiform; P. canariensis is the most stately and magnificent of all with a trunk three feet or more in diameter and leaves twelve feet long. P. cycadifolia is a fine, vigorous species; P. dactylifera is the well-known date and one of the hardiest. It is not so graceful as some of the others but is a most striking object; P.farinifera is a handsome species; P. humilis is an elegant low grower; P. leonensis is believed to be a strong growing variety of P. reclinata, which is one of the best and most popular species; P. melanocarpa has edible fruit; P. pumila has a slender stem and long recurved leaves and P. pusilla is a low form. P. roebelini is the gem of the genus as it has exceedingly delicate, rich green leaves. I have a specimen six feet high planted out as many years. It is the most distinct of the lot. P. sylvestris is the wild date of India; P. rupicola is a beautiful species and P. tenuis somewhat resembles it. The names are much confused and it is probable that a number of so-called species are valueless.