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other palm of which an illustration is given is Trachycarpus Takil, 
Beccari,* also from N. India, It is a close ally of the hardy 7. ex- 
celsa, but easily recognisable by its different port and by the closer, 
neater fibring of the trunk 
A visit was made to the School of Horticulture at Cascine on th 
outskirts of Florence. An interesting branch of activity here is 
the hybridisation and improvement of Anthuriums, especially of the 
red-spathed section. A group showing some of the best results 
secured a first prize at the recent International Show at Chelsea. 
Another interesting culture is that of Camellias in the decomposed 
wood of Castanea sativa, This material, regarded here as a sub- 
stitute for peat, is the brown, fungus-killed wood one sees in hollow 
trees, and Camellias, which will not grow in the ordinary soil, 
pinetum is maintained containing many admirable specimens, among 
them Monterey Cypress (C. macrocarpa), girthing 11 ft. 4 in., and 
a large specimen of the fastigiate Cephalotaxus pedunculata, the 
lower part of which had reverted to the ordinary spreading type. 
As street trees in this part of Florence I noted Celtis australis with 
its clean trunk like a beech, and Melia Azedarach, still retaining 
much fruit. 
BosBoLtt GARDENS, FLORENCE. 
These gardens are deserving of a visit because they represent the 
typical gardens of Italy. They are attached to the Royal Palace 
of Tuscany, but since the unification of Italy under the House of 
Savoy, neither the Palace nor the Gardens have been much used by 
which stand the dark spires of Cypress. 
show many features of peculiar interest, added to which is the charm 
which age and associations alone can give. e are accustomed to 
regard Versailles as the first, as well as the grandest, exposition of 
its peculiar type. But that the ideas which gave it birth existed a 
century previously is shown by these Boboli Gardens at Florence, 
2-4-nis, pedicello brevissimo suffultis ; ramulis floriferis inconspicue papilloso- 
puberulis vel glabrescentibus; fructibus transverse reniformibus profunde 
umbilicatis, stigmate prope apicem excentrice et fere laterali, endocarpio tenui. 
eccari in Webbia, i., p. 52. 
This palm, allied to 7. excelsa and T. Martiana, is found in N.E. Kumaon 
where, according to Duthie (Gardeners’ Chronicle, 1886, i., p. 457), the natives 
call it “‘ Thakil,” from which “the mountain called ey Thakil to the south of 
na. 
Phithauragarh is named.” Duthie, however, regarded it as T. Martia 
