CHAP. V. ORNAMENTAL TREES, SHRUBS, ETC. 339 



fronds. When the trunk grows up and displays itself at its 

 full height, the beauty of the Palm is mainly gone. 



2. A. Catechu BETEL-NUT PALM Soopdra. This by many 

 is considered the most graceful and elegant of all our Palms. 

 It has the merit of being one of the smallest, and may therefore 

 be admitted into gardens of but moderate extent. Mr. Markham 

 observes : 



" I have seen Palm-trees in the South-Sea Islands, many kinds 

 in the forests of South America, and in India ; but of the whole 

 tribe the Betel-nut Palin is certainly the most elegant and beauti- 

 ful. Dr. Hooker likens it to an arrow shot from heaven, raising 

 its graceful head and feathery crown ill luxuriance and beauty 

 above the verdant slopes." * 



Arenga. 



A. saccharifera. A beautiful and magnificent Palm, throwing 

 up erect from the sides of the trunk its enormous shining black- 

 green leaves, which take a graceful plume-like curve towards 

 the summit. This has a fine ornamental effect when grown by 

 the entrance-gate to a garden. 



Caryota. 



C. sobolifera. Grows with a group of stems in the manner of 

 a Bamboo, and bears curious leaves of the size of a man's hand, 

 which have been aptly likened to a fish's tail. A small clump 

 kept within bounds would, no doubt, have an ornamental effect. 



Calamus. 



RATAN. 



Bet. 



Some of the different kinds of Cane are pretty when young, 

 but are of far too rambling a habit to be adapted to a garden. 



Livistona. 



L. Mauritiana. A beautiful Palm, and a truly delightful orna- 

 ment when, as it is occasionally seen, grown as a young plant 

 in a large flower-pot. The way in which the broad, graceful, 

 plume-like leaves overlap one another and dispose themselves, 



* * Travels in Peru and India,' p. 349. 



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