P H (E 



P H CE 



be cut ofl' clo?e to tlie ground, and their tops 

 shortened, behig then jilanled on a border of 

 light loamy earth, and shaded from the sun un- 

 til thev have tal<cn root; or if tlicy are planted 

 pretty close together, and covered with bell- or 

 hand-glasses, or in pots, shading them every 

 day from the sun, they will put out roots in five 

 or six weeks ; but on their beginning to shoot, 

 ihe^-lasses should be gradually raised to admit 

 the free air to them, otherwise they are apt to 

 draw up weak, and soon spoil : as soon as thev 

 are well rooted, the glasses should be taken ofl", 

 and the plants inured to the open air; being 

 soon afterwards removed into a bed of good soil, 

 planting them about six inches distance every 

 wav, shading them from the sun, and watering 

 till they have taken new root ; after which, when 

 kept clean from weeds, they require no other 

 care till autumn, when they should be removed 

 into the borders or other parts, where they arc 

 designed to remain. 



VVhen some of the platits are put into pots, 

 and sheltered under a hot-bed frame in winter, 

 they flower stronger the following summer. , 



These plants succeed best in a moist rich mel- 

 low soil, growing taller, and flowering more 

 strongly and in larger bunches. In poor dry 

 soils they often die durmg the summer, when 

 not constantly watered with care. 



Some of the plants afford ornament in the 

 borders, clumps, and other parts of pleasure- 

 grounds ; and those planted in pots to be placed in 

 court-yards, or other places near the habitation, 

 vhen they are in beauty, and being mixed with 

 other flowers, are highly ornamental. 



PHQi!NIX, a genus containing a plant of 

 the evergreen exotic tree kind. 



It belongs to. j^ppendix Palmtv, (Dioecia Tri- 

 andria,) and ranks in the natural order oiPalmce, 

 or Palma. 



The characters are : that in the male flowers 

 the calyx is an universal one-valved spathe : 

 spadix branched: perlanthium three-parted, verv 

 small, permanent : the corolla has three petals, 

 concave, ovate, somewhat oblong : the stamina 

 have three very short filaments : anthers linear, 

 four-cornered, the length of the corolla: female 

 flowers on a different plant, or on the same spa- 

 dix : the calyx as in the male : the pistillum is 

 a roundish germ : style awl-shaped, short : 

 stigma acute : the [)cricarpiuni is an ovate, onc- 

 cclled drupe : the seed single, bony, subovate, 

 with a lonsiitudinal groove. 



The species is P. ducttjJifera, Date Palm- 

 tree. 



It rises to a great height in warm climates : 

 the stalks are generally full of rugged knots, 

 which are the vestiges of the decayed leaves, for 



the trunks of these trees are not solid like otheT 

 trees, but the centre is filled with pith, round 

 which is a tough bark full of strong fibres while 

 young, but as the trees grow old, this bark 

 hardens and becomes woody : to it the leaves 

 are closely joined, and in the centre rise erect, 

 being closely folded or plaited together ; but after 

 they are advanced above the sheath which sur- 

 rounds theni; they expand very widely on every 

 side the stem, and as the older leaves decay the 

 stalk advances in height : the leaves when 

 grown to a size for bearing fruit are six or eight 

 feet long, and may be termed branches (for the 

 trees have no other); these have narrow long 

 leaves (or pinnae) set on alternately their whole 

 length : the small leaves or lobes are towards 

 the' base three feet long, and little more than 

 one inch broad ; thev arc closely folded together 

 when they first appear, and are wrapped round 

 by brown fibres or threads, which fdll off as the 

 leaves advance, making way for tliem to ex- 

 pand ; these never open flat, but are hollow like 

 the keel of a boat, with a sharp ridge on their 

 back ; are very stiff, and, when voung, of a 

 bright green, ending with a sharp black spine. 

 These trees have male flowers on difierent plants 

 from those which produce the fruit, and there is 

 a necessity for some of the male trees to grow 

 near the females, to render them fruitful ; or at 

 least to impregnate the germ, without which the 

 stones which are taken out of the fruit will not 

 grow : the flowers of both sexes come out in 

 very long bunches from*he trunk between the 

 leaves, and are covered with a spatha (or sheath) 

 which opens and withers ; those of the male 

 have SIX short stamina, with narrow four-cor- 

 nered anthers filled with farina. The female 

 flowers have no stamina, but have a roundish 

 germ, ^^hich afterwards becotries an oval berry, 

 with a thick pulp inclosing a hard oblong stone, 

 with a deep furrow running longitudinally : the 

 bunches of fruit are sometimes very large. It is 

 a native of the Levant. 



Culture. — This plant may be increased by 

 seed, procured from abroad, or taken out of the 

 fruit, which should be sown as soon as possible 

 in pots of light rich earth, plunging them in a 

 lan hot-bed, or in the bark-bed in the stove, 

 giving moderate waterings ; when they soon 

 come up; and when a few inches high, they 

 thould be pricked out into separate small pots, 

 plunging them in the hot-bed or bark-ljcd; 

 where they must remain, giving frequent water- 

 ings, and shifting them into larger pots, accord- 

 ing as their progress of growth may require. 

 When they are removed, great care should be 

 taken tiot to injure their large roots^ or to over- 

 pot them. 



