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. 0. 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. 0. 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. tennis stand the winters very well as far north as Goth a 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. P. 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. tennis 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 



