178 ORNAMENTAL GARDENING 



stakes closely around them but they climbed up and got over, I 

 made them higher but they tunnelled under like Andersonville 

 prisoners. I put barrels with both heads knocked out over them, 

 thinking that if they didn't see the plants they wouldn't be 

 tempted but I learned that a land crab doesn't need temptation 

 to lead him into evil: they tunnelled under and came up inside 

 just the same. I have two plants left for which I have hope but 

 not confidence. This plant ought to do well in low ground in 

 lower Florida that is free from crabs and it is certainly a superb 

 ornamental. / 



Oxalis. There are a number of species in this genus and some 

 of them are quite ornamental. Several of them ought to do well 

 in the cooler part of the state but they have not entirely succeeded 

 with me. Those that grow well are shy bloomers. 



Panax. Ornamental leaved plants, sometimes half shrubby, a 

 number of which do well in the warmer part of Florida. They 

 generally have delicate, often cut leaves, sometimes like those of 

 ferns. P. aureum has leaves with yellow and greenish markings ; 

 P. victoriae is marked with green and white; P. plumatum and 

 P. excelsum have fern-like foliage. They are all tender and, I 

 think, do better with shelter and a little shade. 



Pandanus, Screw Pine. I write the name Pandanus with a 

 good deal of satisfaction for the genus is a superb one and com- 

 pletely at home in the more tropical part of the state. This is 

 especially true of the limestone region of Dade County. They 

 are all natives of the tropics, mostly the Malay Archipelago. 

 They have long, folded leaves which are generally spinose, and 

 they are arranged along the stems in spirals. P. baptisti forms 

 immense clusters and has long spineless leaves which are ele- 

 gantly striped with yellowish. I have in my back yard a plant 

 fifteen feet high and thirty feet across that has never had any 

 fertilizer or care, this in ordinary pine land. It resembles a 

 gigantic clump of ribbon grass. P. sanderi does finely here and 

 holds its coloring better than P. veitchi. P. candelabrum, the 

 striped variety, is fine but tender. P. odoratissimus has slender, 

 recurved leaves and fragrant flowers. P. utilis forms such a 

 trunk that it is tree-like and makes one of the most striking 

 plants we grow, its immense heads of seed being seven or eight 



