IN FLORIDA 125 



young and when they blossom they die. I have tried C. um- 

 braculifera, C. megapoda, C. gebanga and C. elata and all have 

 failed. I understand that they have not succeeded in Florida. 



Erythea. A group of palms from Lower California and Mex- 

 ico, containing three species, I have had no success whatever 

 with any of them. 



Hyphaene. Tropical palms from Equatorial Africa with very 

 firm leaves, the rachides armed with strong spines. The trunks 

 branch in old trees and the nut is covered with an edible pulp, 

 hence the name Gingerbread Palm. I have a very fine specimen 

 of H. schatan in my grounds but up to date it has not produced 

 anything in the cookery line. 



I nodes. The species included in this group have generally 

 been called Sabal. In Inodes the midrib of the leaf is bent back- 

 wards while in Sabal the leaf is flat. This is a group of American 

 palms designated as the palmettos, rather slow growing when 

 young but quite vigorous at maturity. They all succeed ad- 

 mirably in Florida and are among our finest garden ornaments. 

 The genus is represented in Florida by I. palmetto the common 

 cabbage tree, and a dwarf species with an S-shaped stem which 

 is all buried in the ground; the latter, /. megacarpa, living on 

 the shores of Biscay ne Bay and for some distance northward. 

 /. caemlescens, I. mauritiaeformis, I. ghiesbreghti, I. umbraculifera 

 and 7. princeps are beautiful. When on pine land it is a great 

 help to give them liberal dressings of muck. Most of the species 

 will probably prove hardy half way up the peninsula. 



Latania. A magnificent group of palms from Mauritius and 

 neighboring islands. Their leaves are among the most majestic 

 of any of the family, either in a young state or when mature, 

 all being more or less highly colored. They are tender but maybe 

 grown in places exposed to the sea, even where 'they are some- 

 times submerged. Specimens of L. loddigesi and L. commersoni 

 at Cape Florida were completely covered with water for several 

 hours some years ago during a hurricane but were uninjured. 

 The so-called Latania borbonica is a Livistona. 



Licuala peltata, elegans, rum'phi, grandis and horrida have all 

 been in my collection but without exception have totally failed, 

 and other growers in the state report a similar experience. They 



