174 ORNAMENTAL GARDENING 
grow along streams and wet places in shade and are so tender 
I can scarcely get them through the winter. 
Dioon. A magnificent Mexican Cycad with a great crown of 
long, flat, pinnatifid leaves of a rich, attractive green. It isa 
member of a once noble family that is now nearly extinct. It 
has a stiff, formal appearance and is appropriate for planting 
near dwellings. It will stand quite a little cold. : 
Dracaena. D. draco, the Dragon’s Blood Tree of the Canaries, 
does well for me in pots but not in the open. D. fragrans partly 
succeeds in rich soil out of doors, D. godseffiana is doing well in 
partial shade, D. goldieana and D. sanderiana grow nicely in pots 
but not outside. 
Echinocactus. So far as my experience goes none of these, the 
Mamillarias, Echinocereus or Melocactus do well here. A large 
number of the latter were brought from the Bahamas some years 
ago and planted in the grounds of the Royal Palm Hotel at Miami 
but they have not taken hold. A few of the Opuntias succeed » 
here more or less. 
Encephalartos. Magnificent Cycads with long leaves, from 
tropical South Africa. They are expensive plants and I have 
never tried them. 
Eucharis amazonica is one of the most beautiful herbaceous 
plants we grow in South Florida. It is doing fairly well in the 
edge of the hammock. The lubber grasshoppers do not seem to 
know whether they prefer this or the Crinums but they generally 
manage to get both. 
Euphorbia. I have never been able to make any of the succu- 
lent species do any good. E. jacquiniflora is a fine half shrubby 
form, beautiful but very tender. 
Fittonia. Two species, F. argyroneura with elliptical leaves 
netted with silver veins and F. verschaffelti with similar shaped 
leaves netted with coppery red, are cultivated. They require 
heat, shade and moisture and are fine for ferneries. 
Furcraea. Succulent plants resembling Agaves but the flowers 
are more showy. F. cubensis has green leaves; F. gigantea, FP. 
tuberosa, F. beddinghausi and F. pubescens are fine. F. lindent 
is a splendid plant of great size with striped leaves. All are from 
tropical America and are tender except F. longaeva. 
