1310 



PHCENIX 



PHCENIX 



and the height above the ground is 4-5 ft., while at least 

 3 feet more are buried in the ground like a post to 

 keep the exceedingly heavy top in position. The trunk 

 all around and up from the ground is provided with 

 strong Ivs. 10-15 ft. long. In the lower extremity of 

 each frond the leaflets are replaced by long formidable 

 spines, which perhaps serve the purpose of protecting 

 the trunk and the earth of the plant from the attacks 

 of man and beast. 



The type of the genus, the common Date-palm, 

 Phoenix dactylifera, is the least ornamental of all, and 

 its growth is disappointingly slow. The writer has seen 

 a plant 16 years old which just now begins to form a 

 trunk. Well-grown specimens are very fine, but they 

 cannot be considered rivals in beauty of the four kinds 

 which are the subjects of the four following para- 

 graphs. Phoenix dactylifera, var. excelsa, is much more 

 robust and rapid-growing than the typical Date. 



The East Indian Wild Date, Phoenix sylvestris, though 

 having the same glaucous foliage as the common spe- 

 cies, is a rapid grower and an exceedingly beautiful and 

 stately palm. The writer has seen specimens 12 years 

 from the seed that had assumed a height of 25 ft., with 

 Ivs. 12-15 ft. long and a spread of the crown 25-30 ft. in 

 diameter. It is perfectly hardy, having stood a frost of 

 15 above zero, and it grows equally well on high and 

 low land, though its growth is much quicker in fairly 

 moist soil. 



The stateliest of all the palms that can be grown in 

 the gardens of Florida is the Canary Island Date, 

 Phoenix Canariensis, a species with huge trunk and 

 immense Ivs. 12-15 ft. long, with a spread of the crown 

 averaging 30 ft. in diameter. The leaflets, which are 

 densely set along the midrid of the frond, are flattened 

 and are of a glossy dark green color. At an age of 8 

 or 10 years this species begins to form a trunk and to 

 show its true character. The trunk is now about 3 feet 

 in diameter and its massiveness reminds one of a water 

 barrel. At an age of about 12-15 years this palm is a 

 grand and noble object, a perfect picture of symmetrical 

 beauty. There is no palm in the Florida gardens that 

 can compare with it in stateliness and grandeur and in 

 rapidity of growth. Its beauty is much enhanced if 

 planted in groups or if arranged with specimens of Sabals 

 and Cocos and the grand JSambusa argentea. Land- 

 scape effects can be obtained in this way that will be 

 not only unique but at the same time enchantingly 

 beautiful. 



Perhaps of equal beauty and almost of the same state- 

 liness and vigorous growth is a hybrid said to have 

 been raised by the late E. H. Hart, between P. Canar- 

 iensis and P. sylvestris. It has the beautiful glaucous 

 color of the latter and the flattened leaflets as well as 

 the sturdy growth of the former. A plant received 

 by the writer in the fall of 1891 is now 13 ft. high, 

 with a diam. of the trunk of 3 ft. The lower leaves, 

 which almost rest on the ground, are over 12 ft. long, 

 while the upper ones gracefully arch to all sides. Most 

 of the writer's visitors from the North pronounce this 

 the most beautiful of all his palms. It is indeed a grand 

 and beautiful plant. 



Another palm of great beauty is P. tennis. It is 

 similar to the Canary Island Date, but it has a more 

 slender trunk and narrower and more arching leaves, 

 which have a much lighter green color. It is of a very 

 strong growth and soon forms fine specimens. This 

 species belongs to the group of large-growing kinds 

 forming a single stem. They produce no suckers at the 

 base of the trunk to speak of. Most of the other kinds 

 are smaller, more tender, bushy, and produce suckers 

 freely. 



According to Drude, in "Die Naturlichen Pflanzen- 

 familien," there are only about eleven good species of 

 Phoenix, but there is no doubt that the limits of the 

 various species are at present not well understood, and 

 considerable confusion prevails among the synonyms. 

 P. Leonensis and P. spinosa are apparently not to be 

 separated, the latter being perhaps a synonym. The 

 glossy green Ivs. are provided on their edges with 

 soft white threads. It is a strong-growing palm with 

 long and slender Ivs., and, as suckers are pushed up 

 profusely, it soon forms dense clumps of great beauty 

 which eventually attain a height of 15-18 feet. P. 



reclinata, with arching leaves, perhaps never grows 

 higher than 10-12 ft. It is a bushy palm of a glossy 

 dark green color. P. Natalensis and P. Zanzibarensis 

 seem to be identical with P. reclinata. P. farinifera is 

 a low bushy palm of great elegance from East India, 

 and P. rupicola and P. cycadifoua are also very grace- 

 ful and fine species-. The latter species has the most 

 beautiful and elegant foliage of all the species of 

 Phoenix. P. pumila and P. acaulis are very small 

 kinds, while P. palndosa, being provided along the 

 leaves around the stem with formidable spines, forms 

 dense and impenetrable thickets. P. glauca is a small- 

 growing species with glaucous-green foliage. These are 

 all tender palms, but they grow well on high pineland. 



1765. Phoenix Roebelenii of horticulturists, 



but considered by botanists to be a form of P. humilis. 

 See species No. 6, on p. 1311. 



All these Date-palms grow with great luxuriance in 

 south Florida; but P. Canariensis, P. sylvestris, P. 

 tenuis and the hybrid between P. Canariensis and P 

 sylvestris are not only the hardiest and the most beauti- 

 ful of all but they form extremely elegant and stately 

 specimens in about ten years from the time of planting. 

 They grow most luxuriantly in low, moist, rich soil, but 

 they also do exceedingly well on high pineland if well 

 fertilized during the rainy season. In fact, they will 

 thrive under an application of nitrogenous fertilizers in 

 quantities sufficient to kill almost any other plant. The 

 lower leaves of P. Canariensis often suffer from rusty 

 spots which disfigure them badly, but the spots will 

 soon disappear if the plants are well watered, cultivated, 

 and fertilized. 



All the members of the bushy-growing group of Date- 

 palms are rather tender, and they have suffered severely 

 by the heavy freezes which have visited Florida of late 

 years. Though losing all their foliage, they will be as 

 fine as ever the next fall if, immediately following the 

 frost, the heart- leaf is pulled out. If left in its position 

 it will soon rot and injure the center of the plant be- 

 yond recovery. 



Deep planting is very essential with all palms, but 

 especially with the large and massive Dates. Each 

 plant should be set in a basin -like excavation about 6-8 

 ft. in diam. and 2 ft. deep in the center. If this precau- 

 tion is not taken the heavy palm would very likely be 

 blown over by strong winds. The young palm after 

 planting works its way down until it stands about 234-3 

 ft. deep in the soil; then the trunk grows upward. 

 There it stands like a post, smoothly rounded at the 

 bottom, emerging its long, rope-like roots in all direc- 

 tions but particularly downward. The writer knows of 

 a specimen in which the ends of the roots at a depth, 

 of 15 ft. could not be found and they evidently went 



