A^"l) COXSERVATOEY. 203 



pine-apple, and indeed belong to the same natural order. A 

 warm greenhouse will suit tliem better than a stove. H. 

 Gliieshrejhti is a fine conservatory plant, with spiny recurved 

 leaves of a rich green colour tipped with purple. 



Palms. — Are less cared for by amateurs than they deserve 

 to be, for if prudently selected and favoured with a little com- 

 monplace attention they contribute in a material degree to the 

 dignity and variety of the conservatory. The most useful of 

 the family for greenhouse culture are Cliamoerops humilis, C. 

 Fortunei, C. palmetto, Areca sapida, Latania Bourbonica, Jicbcea 

 spectabilis, Phoenix dactylifera, and Rliapis flabelliformis. Palms 

 are raised from seed and suckers, and stove heat is absolutely 

 essential in either mode of propagating. To secure a nice 

 collection it will be prudent to purchase plants of small size, 

 and as they are remarkably cheap considering how choice they 

 are, every conservatory that is kept safe against frost in winter 

 may have the advantage of their elegant tropical leafage. 

 Palms are generally starved in small gardens, and hence they 

 make but little growth. But if annually shaken out and re- 

 potted in a mixture of tough fibrous peat and sharp grit, or 

 fibrous yellow loam and silver sand, they will grow luxuriantly 

 and acquire a splendid brightness of leafage. The best time 

 to repot them is the month of May, and as a rule they may be 

 put into the same pots after some portion of the old soil has 

 been removed from the roots and the pots have been well 

 scrubbed to receive them. Palms enjoy partial shade in 

 summer and plenty of water. In winter the water supply must 

 be moderate but they should never go dust dry. When 

 planted out in turfy peat in a cool fern house the hardier kinds 

 of palms make a charming addition to the elegant leafage that 

 prevails. 



PnoEMiiJM. — The " New Zealand Plax," P. tenax, is a well 

 known plant which bears our winters without harm, in the 

 milder parts of South Devon and Cornwall, but elsewhere is a 

 cool conservatory plant. There is a variegated variety of 

 it, and another with narrow leaves, called P. Colensoi var., 

 which, with the common green-leaved form, constitute a group 

 of three noble habited and rather peculiar looking plants. 

 They may be well grown in pots, but do much better planted 

 out either in peat or loam provided it is gritty or stony in 

 texture and well drained. They should have plenty of water 

 all the summer, and very little in winter. The easiest way to 

 multiply them is by dividing the stool by a sharp cut down- 



