iSyi.] 



DINNER -TABLE PLANTS. 



157 



very front rank of foliaged plants for decorative purposes. They are, 

 moreover, easy of cultivation, and can be reared to very suitable sizes 

 for table-work in small pots, and the texture of their foliage enables 

 them to stand tear and wear better than most stove-plants, 



Areca Verschaffeltii, Fig. 7, is one of the most useful and orna- 

 mental of its genera. Its leaflets are of a lively-green colour, with 

 pale-buff midribs ; and as a semi-drooping plant, it has few equals for 

 furnishing generally, and for the dinner-table in particular. Our figure 

 is engraved from a photograph of a suitable sized plant for our present 

 purpose, in a 4-inch pot. It thrives well in two parts loam and one 

 part leaf-mould in the moist stove, where it can be freely syringed. 

 A. aurea, "^A, lutescens, *A. sapida, A. rubra, and A, nobilis are all 



Fig. 8.— D^monokops MelanocHuETEs. 



most useful for the same purposes. Those marked * are more hardy 

 than the others, and thrive in an intermediate temperature. 



Dsemonorops Melanochsetes, Fig. 8, also taken from a photograph 



