Chamczrops. 115 



their light-green, silver-veined leaves are very suitable, 

 or they may serve to fill a vacant space in the mixed 

 border. Multiplied by sowing in spring or autumn. 

 The plants require the shelter of a house in winter, 

 and are only effective for edgings in the young or rosette 

 stage. 



*Cham9erops excelsa. A hardy species, with an 

 erect stem, 20 ft. or 30 ft. high in its native country, and 

 dark-green, erect, fan-shaped leaves, deeply cut into 

 narrow segments. The leaf-stalks are from 3 ft. to 6 ft. 

 long, and are enclosed at the base in a dense in ass of 

 rough fibres, and armed at the edges with small, tooth-like 

 spines. This plant remains out during the winter in the 

 neighbourhood of Paris, in sheltered positions, the stem 

 being protected in severe frosts with a covering of 

 straw, etc., and it is worth a trial in the south with us. 



^Chamserops Fortune! (The Chusan Palm). This 

 species is often confounded with C. excelsa, from which, 

 however, it differs in being of a stouter habit, having 

 a more profuse matted network of fibres around the 

 bases of the leaves and crown, the segments of the leaves 

 much broader, and the leaf-stalks shorter and stouter, 

 from i ft. to 2 ft. long, and quite unarmed. It grows 

 12 ft. or more in height, and has a handsome, spreading 

 head of fan-like leaves, which are slit into segments about 

 half-way down. 



It may not be generally known that this palm is per- 

 fectly hardy in this country. A plant of it in Her 

 Majesty's gardens at Osborne has stood out for many 

 winters and attained a considerable height. It is also 

 placed out at Kew, though protected in winter. On the 



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