IN FLORIDA 147 
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Chinese Hibiscus. There is hardly a 
home, either of white or black, so poor and lowly in South Florida 
that it does not have one or more of these ‘‘Hibiscus”’ as they 
are simply called. This shrub, the scarlet bush Poinciana, the 
Acalyphas and the towering coconut are the poor man’s plants 
in the warmer part of the state, the first pioneers of home decora- 
tion, the harbingers of other beautiful things to come. The Hi- 
biscus succeed to a certain extent to the northern limits of the pen- 
insula; for, if frozen down in this area, they spring up withrenewed 
vigor and are soon covered with their gaudy blossoms. One of 
the finest is the old dazzling scarlet; the purple crimson is very 
fine, so is the pink, and the salmon with a dark eye. I bought 
a plant some years ago advertised as a white which comes out a 
pale pink and turns to an almost pure white. Kirk Munroe 
tells me of seeing three hundred varieties of Chinese Hibiscus 
flowers in India. H. mutabilis has lovely large flowers that are 
pale pink in the morning and turn almost to red in the evening, 
but it is a straggling grower. H. schizopetalus has fuchsia- 
shaped flowers with remarkably incised petals. H. syriacus is 
hardy in the northern part of the state and has flowers of several 
colors. 
Ipomoea fistulosa is an upright, somewhat shrubby plant 
bearing large purple flowers, very common in the West Indies. 
I have seen it in cultivation at Fort Myers where it was doing 
well. 
Hydrangea. These well-known plants evidently dislike lime 
in the soil as repeated efforts made in this vicinity to grow them 
have failed. They do well in places throughout the state, being 
perfectly hardy. They prefer a rich, somewhat moist soil and 
partial shade. According to Schnabel they are subject to root 
knot at Gainesville. 
Ixora. A large genus of shrubs and small trees from the 
Torrid Zone. The leaves are opposite and generally shining 
and leathery; the flowers are borne in corymbs and are often 
superb. Many of them are hybrids and all can easily be grown 
from cuttings during the warm part of the year. J. coccinea 
is a glorious large shrub, bearing almost continually clusters 
of rich scarlet flowers of great endurance; J. williamsi, reddish 
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