122 ORNAMENTAL GARDENING 
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. O. oleracea is a tall, 
noble species from the Antilles. O. 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 hardi- 
est. 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. LP. 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, 
The sexes of the dates are separate and it is generally believed 
that they are dioecious. However, a female humilis in my ground 
raised fertile seed when no male plant of any species was large 
enough to bloom anywhere in the neighborhood. Most of them 
