228 IN A GLOUCESTERSHIRE GARDEN 



the process of fertilisation, and evidently believed in it. 

 Yet still the idea was not accepted by botanists till 

 Linnaeus fixed it, and found that what was true of the 

 palm was true of all other living plants 



I said that there were 1200 different species of 

 palms ; but of this large number only three or four 

 can be at all considered hardy in England. The 

 hardiest is without doubt the Chusan palm, Trachycarpus 

 Fortunei, introduced a little over forty years ago by 

 Fortune. It was not at first tried as a hardy plant, 

 but the experiment was soon made (I believe first at 

 Osborne), and it was found to be perfectly hardy ; and 

 when it has been established eight or ten years it will 

 commence flowering, and will generally flower every 

 year. It is a very beautiful and graceful plant. All 

 it asks for is protection from wind, and it should be 

 planted where it can have some screen from the pre- 

 vailing winds, but it does not mind frost or snow. In 

 my own garden it grows about ten feet high, and forms 

 splendid leaves. The only other species that can be 

 considered hardy is Chamcerops humilis, but it will not 

 compare with C. Fortunei, and is not so hardy. Jubcea 

 spedahilis, from Chili, will grow in Cornwall, and 

 Fritchardia filifera has survived some winters in 

 very favoured places. Brahea nitida is said to be 

 the hardiest palm in the Riviera, and Cocos australis 



