PHCENIX 



and :it length dorsally divided ; bracts usually obso 

 lete: lis. yellow: fr. a Ijerry or drupe, oblong, oranpre 

 brown or black Species 10 to 12, perhaps more. Tro| i 

 cal and subtropical Asia and Africa. 



Jared G. Smtth 



PhienU in tiim i-:il . -Tli.' latest botanical monograph 

 of Phoenix (by |;. -ruTi m Mil.^ia 3:.S45) admits only 10 

 species, althouirh tli. n :ii-. almut GO names. Such a 

 "lumping" of s|m . i.-. i-, \i i\ unwelcome to the horti 

 culturist, and ii i i i ' , : i ii -t m-arly allthe synonjms 

 cited below rti-i ' - ^ ilmt are abundantly dis 



tinct for hortim, i il i > . 



A good hoiti. ni: 1,1 ,1 I, i ■ ' i^itiim of Phoe- 

 nix is that by W lilu.ju W;,, ..n. ..f Kew, ir 

 G.C. III. 9:2;», -I'M, Ij-ti, xvhi.li hli.ial ex 

 tracts are made below, i'lm niM ^ .liiii r fron 

 all otlier pinnate-lea vc-d piilm- in li;niii^'the 

 lT.s. folded upwards and h iiL'tliw i^i-, and ir 

 the peculiar form of the seed, as seen in thi 

 Date stone. The plants are either male oi 

 female. The fruits of only one species art 

 used for food; viz., P. dactylifera. (For Dat( 

 culture, see Sate.) In England only P. rvpi 

 cnla ranks among popular decorative plants 

 Of all palms, the cultivated species of Phoe 

 nix are the most difficult to define. Manj 

 hybrids have been vii^.-.l in tlie gardens or ^^sgiffl 

 the Riviera, win ,, ,.;.,,, -,,.,.,,.s flower and ^IH 

 fruit every y. :u I i , ' Impossible to yyjji 



keep these pin, . I i crds the w< 



derful feciinclii\ '■\ :i i'lfi i i\; P.recliiu 

 at Nice fertilized with 1...II.11 from P. tennis, 

 reclhiata and pumila produced 20,000 seeds. The rais 

 ing of Phoenixes from seed is done on a large scale on 

 the Riviera. The seeds are sown in beds in the open 

 and flu ~, . .lliin:^ tia?i~|daiiti-il into shallow trenches, 

 like .-[ I, I , , - , fti:,i ihr tiiricbes may be regularly 

 Hood.-,! iliiiiiiu tin Miiiiui.i- ilrc.ught. Watson thinks 

 that 11. \i I,. Ill,- , ,. paliii. the Date is perhaps the 



P. CaiKu-ieiisis is the noblest of all Phoenixes, and 

 one of the most majestic palms in cultivation. It 

 of growth is astonishing: a tree supposed to be only 10 

 years old had a trunk 4 feet high, 3 feet in diam. at the 

 base, with about 100 Ivs. foniiiiig a head 25 feet across. 

 Another specimen of aliout the same size bore 8 

 bunches of fruit, each weiKliing about 50 lbs. 



P. .ii/lff'sliis N till- Willi Date of India, where it is 

 cultivated fur ii> ii-, v 1 i- i, \ ii-lds sugar and "toddy." 



The trunk attaii .ili.iut 4 feet when 



old. and it is ih, ; ,, - ,1 - uiiiiig a notch in the'stem 

 at the top ami i-i- iinij M,, -ii. as it runs out. The tree 

 continues to yield aMniiaiiy la-lti gallons of sap for 20- 

 25 years, or 8 lbs. of sugar per year. Fifty thousand 

 tons of date-sugar are produced every year in Bengal 

 alone from this and other palms. 



"P. ,:,-i:,;,i„ ;,„.! /' -„,„„.„ .„.,. nniif-.l .m.lpr the for- 



PHCENIX 1309 



Florida —No palms in the writer s Florida 

 e in beaut> , stateliuess, and massive growth 

 I il members of the genus Phoemx The 

 1 Unites specimens of all the kinds of 

 All the palms for this Florida gar 

 , 1 w exceptions have been raised during 



of the tn 



that the> 



The fo" 



2 ft. high. Wat.soii 

 all the many kinds < 

 tional in the form 1 



.soft texture ,if its 1 



". L.'11-enhous 

 , :it 111, 'lit I : P. Oaiiar- 

 var. JItntceana, inter- 

 in Phcenix during the 

 pynrmy Plm-nix. Fig. 



':-r--- -■•I'l- lint over 

 , . ,. -; ..-Ml.-st of 



,.., A^'£li4 



w I re St nt to rioi 111 1 Fhi hi -t om s -ni 1 1 si t f ut in the 

 fall of 1811 Of these Phoenixes several have attained a 

 height of 10-15 ft. and a spread of Ivs. 1,5-25 ft. in diam. 

 The massive trunks are almost as thick as a water barrel 



