230 THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



sapida is a fine species, with elegant pinnate foliage. The Chamasrops 

 are, perhaps, the most useful for greenhouses below the middle size, 

 as they have elegant fan-shaped foliage, combined with a compact 

 habit of growth. 0. Fortunei is the best of the genus ; G. excelsa, 

 C. Ghiesbregldii, C. humilis, and C. palmetto are, nevertheless, 

 remarkably good, and perfectly distinct from each other. Corypha 

 australis is also a very pretty little fan-palm, useful iu a young state 

 for table decoration. Latania horbonica is now so well known as to 

 need no description. It is one of the most elegant fan-palms we 

 have, and should be in every collection. The date-palm, Phoenix 

 dactylifera is useful for variety, but inferior in beauty to many 

 others. jP. reclinata is also good. Bhapis fiahelliformis is an ele- 

 gant, slender-growing palm, worth attention ; but, for beauty aud 

 usefulness, nothing can excel Seaforthia elegans. Its light feathery 

 fronds have a charming appearance, intermixed with the glowing 

 colours of the flowering plants. It is moderately cheap, and hand- 

 some in all stages, ranging from one to sixty feet. S. robusta (syn. 

 Areca Baueri) is equally good, but more costly than the preceding. 

 There are two other beautiful species that must not be passed over, 

 for their elegant fan-shaped foliage entitle them to a place in the 

 most select collection of plants, and they are Thrinax parvifiora and 

 T. tunicata. 



Passing on to other subjects, we come to the beautiful New 

 Zealand Flax, Phormium tenax, and P. tenax variegatum. Both 

 have distinct and effective characters, and the latter is one of the 

 best ornamental-leaved plants for exhibition purposes we have. 



Rhopala corcovadensis is the best of that genus for the green- 

 house, and also a good exhibition plant. 



Several members of the Yucca family are grand for small houses, 

 as they have a neat habit, but are moreover highly ornamental. 

 For exhibitors with limited convenience, several of the species are 

 invaluable. The best are Y. uloifolia variegata, Y. filamentosa varie- 

 gata, Y. quadrlcolor, and Y. filifera. 



HERBACEOUS PJEONIES. 



[T the time when herbaceous pseonies begin to die down is 

 the best time in the whole year to begin to take them 

 up in order to divide and replant. Those of our readers 

 therefore who wish to increase their stock may now be 

 on the look-out for the first opportunity ; for August 

 never advances far without making dead rags of paeony leaves, and 

 they may be lifted before the leaves are quite dead — in fact, as soon 

 as they become unsightly with age and the descent of the sap. It 

 would be a good thing for the paeonies and their owners generally, 

 if they were all taken up and divided once in three years, to renew 

 their youth, and bring out the full splendour of the flowers by the 

 additional strength that planting in fresh soil would give them. In 

 this process of replanting there could be no great harm in returning 



