2530 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM, 



PART 1JJ, 



21-04 



Chamce^rops hiimilis L. ; Phoenix humilis Cav. ; Falnia humilis Bauh.; Pal- 

 miste E'ventail, Fr. ; Zwergpalme, Ger. ; the dwarf Fan Palm, or Palmetto; 

 N. Du Ham., iii. t. 58., and our fig. 2404.; is a native of the south of Europe, 

 and, in dry warm situations in England, will stand the winter with very little 

 protection. 



Though this palm is designated dwarf, yet, according to the Nouveau Du 

 Hamel, it grows to the height of 30 ft. or 40 ft. in Spain ; and one in the 

 Jardin des Plantes, in a tub, attained the height of 30 ft. In England, one in 

 an old conservatory at Buckeridge House, near Godalming, was, in 1836, 

 upwards of 12 ft. high. The trunk of plants of this size is cylindrical, perfectly 

 naked from the ground to within a short distance of the leaves, where scales 

 commence, of a reddish hue, being the bases of the footstalks, which remain 

 for some years after the leaves and petioles have dropped off; and which 

 scales, with great plausibility, have been considered as giving the first hint for 

 the foliaged capitals of Corinthian columns. As this palm produces abun- 

 dance of seed in Italy and Sardinia, if large quantities of it were imported, and 

 the plants raised from it exposed to the frost, some would doubtless be found 

 more hardy than others ; and these might be perpetuated from the suckers, 

 which rise abundantly from the roots. The soil which this palm prefers is a 

 deep sand ; in which soil it is said to grow in the south of Europe, and spread 



