232 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



DATE PALM AND FAN PALM WITH 

 IVY GERANIUM. 



bursting" into foliage. It is common to 

 see these trunks completely covered with 



the 



climbing 



ivy geranium, forming 



great bouquets of pink and green topped 

 with a crown of fan leaves. The dark, 

 glossy green of the English ivy also is 

 used as a covering, and an especially 

 pretty effect is that of several varieties 

 of ferns planted in the crevices of the 

 scaly trunks which form a charming 

 background for the oraceful fronds. 



The Yucca palm is a very different 

 species which, when planted in groups of 

 three to six trees, gives a tropical effect. 

 Its slim, smooth trunk grows straight 

 up to a height of twelve or fifteen feet 

 and then sends out long, narrow leaves 

 in clusters, some hanging, others brist- 

 ling straight up, suggesting a feather 

 duster or the head of a Fiji Islander. 



The Neo-washingtonia Ulifera, the fan 

 palm most commonly seen here, is indig- 



enous in the Colorado desert. It is, 

 therefore, a native for all those found 

 in California come from there and ii 

 must be remembered that the Colorado 

 desert is — a large part of it — within the 

 state of California. An Arabic proverb 

 says. "A palm, to grow well, needs to 

 have its head in the fire and its feet in 

 the water,"-— conditions nearly fulfilled 

 in this desert where the temperature 

 sometimes reaches one hundred and thir- 

 ty degrees Fahrenheit. When the old 

 leaves die and hang down, forming a 

 covering for the trunk, the palm is de- 

 scribed by the Indians as "a well dressed 

 tree." They are left on the young trees 

 because they preserve the moisture in 

 the trunk, but the Indians had a custom 

 of burning them off the old trees, be- 

 lieving that it made the fruit grow larger 

 and sweeter. Even this fiery treatment 

 did not render it palatable to white men. 

 Doctor Well wood Murray of Palm 



A WELL-DRESSED PALM. 



