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 are a, they spring up with renewed 

 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. /. coccinea 

 is a glorious large shrub, bearing almost continually clusters 

 of rich scarlet flowers of great endurance; /. williamsi, reddish 

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