TROPICAL EFFECTS 327 



about four feet long. The heart-shaped leaves and yellow flowers 

 of Senecio Clivorum are shown on plate 102, and a gigantic Crambe 

 covered with misty white bloom on plate 78. There are 

 several species of plume poppy, or Bocconia, that have leaves 

 like those of a fig. 



MASCULINE EFFECTS 



All large leaves tend to have a masculine effect in the land- 

 scape and there is one leaf form that is peculiarly virile. Here 

 again the botanist helps us with his word "palmate," which 

 refers to the outstretched fingers of the hand. The chief plant 

 used by the "bedding crowd" to produce this effect is the castor- 

 oil bean, but fan palms, abutilons, fatsias, and tender aralias are 

 also turned out of greenhouses for the purpose. 



A good hardy plant of this type is the elm-leaved spirea, 

 which the nurserymen call Spireza Ulmaria. The one they call 

 Spircea palmata has a spirited, amost eager, appearance. But it 

 is possible for palmate leaves to look too eager. The aroids, an 

 immense tropical family, are noted for their dragon-like leaves, 

 and the names given them by the botanists refer to salamanders, 

 demons, and other creatures with "claws to snatch." It is proper 

 that these curiosities should be cultivated in greenhouses by col- 

 lectors, but we ought not to have such diabolical suggestions in 

 Northern gardens. 



Indeed, the more this resemblance to the human hand is 

 softened, the better it is for a country where people admire the 

 strong man that has gentle manners. The grasping suggestion 

 is likely to vanish when there are three or seven or nine lobes, 

 instead of exactly five fingers, and when these lobes are cut or 

 fringed, we get native strength clothed in delicacy. To this type 



