2592 



PHOENIX 



PHCENIX 



of various mixtures. While some of the garden names 

 are considered by botanists to be synonyms, they may 

 represent distinct plants to the horticulturist. Any 

 treatment of Phoenix as represented in North America 

 must now be tentative. 



Cultivation of phoenix. 



In Florida. In moist land no special care is neces- 

 sary in setting out these palms. All they require is 

 shade after the planting of small specimens, and a 

 mulch of old grass or stable-manure. They must be 

 frequently tilled and fertilized. Always use a fertilizer 

 rich in ammonia while they are making their growth. 

 In autumn, a fertilizer containing 10 or 12 per cent of 

 potash should be used, with a good addition of phos- 

 phoric acid. This will make the plants more hardy to 

 endure occasional cold spells. On high dry pineland, 

 holes 3 to 5 or 6 feet deep and wide should be dug for 

 the large-growing species, and these holes should be 

 filled with old stable-manure, bones, muck, and clay. 

 Plant in a saucer-like depression about a foot deep in 

 the center, and apply a heavy mulch of old stable- 

 manure after the plant has been set out. If stable- 

 manure is not at hand, old leaves and grass may be 

 used instead. Small plants should be well shaded for a 

 year or so, and they also should be kept constantly 

 moist during the dry season. All hardy palms should 

 be set out in November, December, and January. One 

 is not likely to be successful in transplanting them in 

 the dry season from March to June. In Florida, experi- 

 ence has been had with plants under the following 

 names: P. canariensis is the most beautiful as well as 

 the most massive of the tall-growing single-stemmed 

 species. The trunk in young specimens is immense. It is 

 a fast grower in rich moist soils, but very slow and 

 unsatisfactory in high dry sandy lands. It is excellent 



2919. Phoenix Roebelenii of horticulturists, considered by some 

 botanists to be a form of P. humilis. 



as a single specimen on lawns, or for streets. Its dense 

 immense crown of elegantly curving pinnate leaves, 

 each often 15 feet long and of a very pleasing green color, 

 and its stately and rapid growth, combine to make this 

 species an ideal avenue tree for central Florida, along 

 with Sabal Palmetto, Washingtonia robusta and Phoenix 

 sylvestris. Farther south Cocos plumosa and Oreodoxa 

 regia must be added. There are hybrids of this species 

 and P. sylvestris and P. dactylifera. Seeds from the 

 Riviera and Italy seldom produce plants true to name 

 because the plants evidently are pollinated by the 

 species mentioned. It is necessary to import the seeds 



from the Canary Islands, if plants true to name are 

 desired. P. tennis is only a more slender form of it. 

 P. canariensis is easily distinguished by its greenish 

 yellow leaf-stalks and spines. P. sylvestris is a very 

 stately and beautiful palm with light bluish green 

 leaves, growing well on high pineland but doing best on 

 rich moist soils. There are hybrids between this 

 species and P. canariensis. The date palm, P. dacty- 

 lifera, is common in many gardens, the product of seeds 

 taken from the commercial dates bought in the shops. 

 Most of the real date palms do not look beautiful. 

 They are rather coarse, but a few of them show a dense 

 crown of deep bluish green leaves. It often produces 

 large bunches of orange-yellow juicy but rather bitter 

 fruit. The mocking-birds are very fond of it. The 

 foregoing three phcenixes are hardy as far north as 

 Jacksonville. The remainder are all more tender. 

 P. reclinata is a most beautiful palm with slender 

 stem and a dense crown of reclining leaves. Great 

 confusion exists concerning this fine palm, as quite a 

 number of the species having more massive stems and 

 much broader and more spiny leaves are labelled with 

 this name. The true P. reclinata, as understood in 

 Florida, has soft leaves, and the leaflets are scarcely 

 spiny. Although it suckers, the offsets are not so abun- 

 dant or so vigorous as in the plant known as P. spinosa. 

 It is really a one-stemmed species. The trunk is very 

 slender, scarcely more than 4 or 5 inches in diameter. 

 It grows as well on high dry pineland as in moister 

 and richer soil, but the growth is much more rapid in 

 good soil. P. spinosa, from a horticultural standpoint, 

 is very distinct from the last. The leaves are very 

 vigorous, deep green and each leaflet terminates in 

 a very sharp spine. The foliage is so extremely spiny 

 that it is very difficult to trim the plants. This palm 

 always grows in clumps of five or six or more stems, and 

 it attains a height of 25 to 30 feet. The trunks are 

 rather rough and massive, 9 or 10 inches in diameter, 

 and the leaves are recurving, as in the last. P. fari- 

 nifera, or the palm grown in Florida under this name, is 

 similar in growth to P. spinosa, but the leaves are 

 lighter green with a slight glaucous hue, and the 

 spines on the leaflets are even more formidable. The 

 leaves, particularly at their lower end, are covered with 

 a fine mealy substance. P. zeylanica is one of the most 

 beautiful and distinct of all the phcenixes, with the 

 color of the Colorado blue spruce. If single stems are 

 desired, the suckers should be removed as soon as they 

 appear. This species thrives on high and low land. 

 P. leonensis, by botanists referred to R. reclinata, 

 grows in large dense clumps 10 to 12 feet high, scarcely 

 forming trunks. The leaves are deep green, rather soft 

 to the touch and not spiny. Only the petioles are 

 provided, as in all these palms, with formidable spines. 

 It blooms in spring, and fruits abundantly in winter. 

 It grows evidently best on high pineland. P. paludosa 

 forms large clumps, and massive trunks from 1 to 1^ 

 feet in diameter and 15 to 25 feet high; a strong grower 

 but rather coarse in appearance. It grows well on high 

 and low lands. P. acaidis does not form trunks. It is a 

 low, very rigid little palm. The leaves are so spiny that 

 it is difficult to walk among the clumps. P. rupicola 

 (P. cycadifolia) is the most elegant and beautiful of all 

 the phcenixes in central Florida. Specimens 6 to 7 feet 

 high look extremely beautiful. The leaves are glossy 

 green and very smooth, suggesting the foliage of some 

 species of Cycas. They are elegantly curving to all sides, 

 and as the leaflets are all arranged horizontally in one 

 plane, well-grown specimens form objects of great beauty. 

 It grows well only in rich moist soil and half shade. P. 

 Roebelenii is a dainty little phoenix now represented in 

 many Florida gardens, but it grows well only in rich 

 moist soil and in half-shady spots. It excels all other 

 small palms in grace, elegance, and beauty. (H. Nehrling.) 

 In California. The number of species and varieties 

 of phcenix grown in California is a problem so complex 



