PHCENIX 



PHOENIX 



2593 



that one dares not attempt a solution. The nursery 

 trade recognizes the following names: P. canariensis, 

 P. cycadifolia, P. dadylifera, P. leonensis, P. Roebelenii, 

 P. reclinata, P. rupicola, P. sylvestris, and P. tennis. 

 Occasionally other names are met with in private col- 

 lections, but no others appear in California plant cata- 

 logues. All are considered hardy except the 

 dwarf P. Roebelenii. Specimens of P. dadylifera 

 grow as high as 100 feet. Some specimens grown 

 from seed saved from com- 

 mercial dates have made 

 50 feet of trunk in 

 thirty years, while 

 others of the same 

 seeding have made 

 but 8 feet. Either 

 there are numer- 

 ous hybrids in 

 California or else 

 some species that 

 no one knows. 

 Specimens are 

 known in all 

 shades of green 

 and glaucous- 

 green, all habits of 

 growth, stiff and 

 upright, pendu- 

 lous and soft, nar- 

 row leaves and broad ones, 

 slim-folded and wide-spread- 

 ing, the latter like an inverted 

 leaf of Jubsea spedabilis. No 

 one has attempted to straighten 

 them out. The only species 

 easily recognized everywhere 

 and by everyone is P. canari- 

 ensis, the gem of the genus. 

 This is regarded by one emi- 

 nent Californian nurseryman 

 as a garden hybrid, but it 

 always produces fertile seeds, 

 and seedlings from it do not 

 van,-, which cannot be said of 

 any other phoenix here. Next 

 in popularity comes P. redi- 

 nata; the others are found only 

 in collections. P. canariensis is 

 most easily removed from the 

 ground, and the best time is 

 August and September, the 

 hottest weather, as then they 

 recuperate faster. The only 

 other time to remove is in the 

 early spring, before growth, 

 and then if the weather turns 

 cold it is dangerous. (Ernest 

 Braunton.) 



In the North. Although 

 phoenixes cannot be considered 

 to be as decorative subjects as 

 the howeas and chrysalidocar- 

 pus, they are among the hardi- 

 est of palms. For any unfavor- 

 able situation where any palm can be expected to 

 thrive, recommend a phoenix. Outdoors they endure 

 the hottest sunshine without losing a particle of color, 

 whether placed in jars, vases, or beds. As house-plants 

 they are unequaled for resistance to neglect. They 

 also bear the tying and untying and the crowding and 

 wear and tear of public decorative work better than 

 any other palms. The date palm is not quite so grace- 

 ful as P. rupicola; P. leonensis, or P. spinosa, is slightly 

 stiffer than P. rupicola, but very handsome. Other 

 kinds useful to the florist are P. canariensis, P.fari- 

 nifera, P. pumila, and P. tennis. (This paragraph has 



2920. Phceniz palm. An unusually straight-trucked 

 specimen of the P. dactylif era group. 



been adapted from an article in Scott's "Florists' 

 Manual" which embodies the experience of Mr. Scott 

 and of the undersigned. (W. H. Taplin.) 



( Various other names will be found in horticultural literature, 

 but the following comprise those known to the American trade. ) 



acaulis, 8. 

 Andersonil, 1. 

 canariensis, 10. 

 cycadifoli&.\, 12. 

 dactylifera, 12. 

 excelsa, 12. 

 farinifera, 4. 

 Hanceana, 6. 

 humilis, 6. 

 Jubse, 10. 

 leonensis, 2. 

 Loureirii, 7. 

 macrocarpa, 10. 

 melanocarpa, 2. 

 paludosa, 3. 

 pumila, 9. 

 pusilla, 4, 5. 

 reclinata, 2. 

 Roebelenii, 7. 

 rupicola, 1. 

 senegalensis, 2. 

 spinosa, 2. 

 sylvestris, 11. 

 tennis, 10. 

 Zanzibar ensis, 2. 

 zeylanica, 5. 



A. Texture of Ifts. 



flaccid. 



1. rupicola, T. 

 Anders. (P. An- 

 dersonii, Hort. 

 Calcutta. P. cy- 

 cadifolia, Hort.?). 

 St. 15-20 ft. by 8 in., solitary, 

 slender, naked: Ivs. 10 ft., gla- 

 brous, bright green: petiole 

 compressed; segms. 1% ft- 

 2-ranked, not fascicled, flaccid, 

 bright green: fr. oblong, shi- 

 ning yellow. Sikkim, Himalaya. 

 G.C. II. 8:45. F. 1887, p. 

 165. I.H.25:318. F.R. 1:143. 

 A.G. 13:141. A.F. 4:569. 

 Gn.M. 6:288. G.Z. 22, p. 97. 

 R.H. 1912, p. 150. G.W. 1, p. 

 35. A form with some of the 

 Ifts. white is figured in I.H. 

 34:3. 



AA. Texture of Ifts. rigid. 

 B. Arrangement of Ifts. 2-ranked. 

 c. Form of Ifts. lanceolate. 

 2. reclinata, Jacq. (P. leonen- 

 sis, Lodd. P. senegalensis, Van 

 Houtte. P. spinosa, Schum. & 

 Thorn. P. Zanzibar ensis, Hort.). 

 St. to 25 ft. or more: lys. 2- 

 ranked, bright green, obliquely 

 arcuate-recurved toward the 

 apex; Ifts. rigid, approximate, 

 strict, 12 in. long, 1 in. wide, 

 lanceolate, acuminate, pungent, 

 the terminal 9 in. long, slightly 

 bifid, the lowest spinescent. Trop. and S. Afr. F. 1871, 

 p. 135. A.F. 4:568. A.G. 13:141; 14:410; 16:346. G. 

 10:409. Gt. 51, p. 623. Gn. 39, p. 140. R.B. 37, p. 334. 

 R.H. 1911, p. 103. P. melanocdrpa, Naudin, has black 

 edible frs. ; found in garden at Nice. It is "supposed to 

 be a variety of P. senegalensis," or by some a hybrid of 

 P. dactylifera. R.H. 1894, pp. 493, 496, 497. 



cc. Form of Ifts. ensiform, with filiform tips. 



3. paluddsa, Roxbg. In groups in the wild state, 

 almost tree-like: trunks 8-25 ft. high, 3-4 in. diam., 

 often reclining, annulate: Ivs. 8-10 ft.; Ifts. 1-2 ft., 



