THE FLORISTS^ MANUAL. 



171 



Kcntia Canterburyana. 



fan palm and they would remember it. 

 People who don't know Begonia Rex 

 by name know it ' very well as the 

 "beefsteak geranium." That must 

 have originated in the packing house 

 district of Chicago, but it's about as 

 elegant as that invented by an ex- 

 horse car driver, a young Irishman 

 whom I set to moving some begonias, 

 and in an hour or so he informed me 

 he had "got through with the big- 

 onions." 



The leading commercial palms are 

 Kentia Belmoreana and K. Forsteri- 

 ana. These well known palms are de- 

 servedly the most popular of all. 

 Quick growing, splendid plants for 

 the house, beautiful either when one 

 foot high or twenty feet. Belmoreana 

 is dwarfer and more compact than 

 Forsteriana and has graceful recurved 

 leaves when well grown. This plant 

 with light and room to spread is the 

 very perfection of form. Forsteriana 

 is more erect, but similar in all other 

 respects, and makes a fine palm for 

 large decorations. Both endure the 

 extremes of temperature, but no frost, 

 and all other unfavorable conditions 

 better than any other palms, the 

 phoenix alone excepted. Other spe- 

 cies not so valuable commercially, but 

 making fine specimens are, K. Baueri, 

 K. Canterburyana, K. Lindenii, K. 



McArthurii, K. Mooreana, K. Wend- 

 landiana. 



Areca lutescens. This magnificent 

 palm is unrivalled as a decorative 

 plant.' It has bright, shining golden 

 stems, with feathery and most grace- 

 ful leaves. It grows quickly and soon 

 makes plants of a fine decorative size. 

 They are often planted three or four 

 in a pot, but even without that the 

 plant has the habit of sending outside 

 shoots from base of stem and large 

 plants are soon thick masses of foliage 

 crowned with the most graceful of 

 curving fronds. It is 1 not quite equal 

 as a house plant to the kentias. Other 

 species are A. alba, A. rubra, A. sapida, 

 A. Verschaffeltii. All fine, graceful 

 palms. 



Latania borbonica (Livistona chi- 

 nensis). This palm had been in com- 

 merce many years, before the kentia 

 and areca were known, and is familiar 

 to all. Its broad, bright shining 

 leaves suggest the use that is made of 

 the leaf. It is the Chinese fan palm. 

 It withstands heat or cold, even a 

 few degrees of frost. It has always 

 been a standard decorative plant as 

 well as a favorite palm for the living 

 room. Perfect specimens make fine 

 objects in decorating, especially when 

 placed in a vase or where the whole 



outline and expanse of the plant can 

 be seen. 



There is a form of this with light 

 yellow stems and leaves, a beautiful 

 palm known as L. borbonica aurea. 



Phoenix. These are not considered 

 as fine decorative plants as the arecas 

 and keutias, although as small speci- 

 mens they are most beautiful. Yet 

 they are the hardiest of all palms. 

 They will thrive in a vase or jar or 

 tropical bed in the broad sun without 

 losing a particle of color, and as a 

 house plant, among palms, they are 

 unequalled. They also seem to bear 

 the tying and untying and the crowd- 

 ing and wear and tear of a decoration 

 better than any other palms we have 

 ever handled. For any unfavorable 

 situation that a palm can be expected 

 to thrive at all recommend a, phoenix. 

 Some beautiful species are not com- 

 mon among us, but they should be. 

 The principal species are: 



P. rupicola. Wide spreading, weep- 

 ing leaf stems, with finely divided 

 leaves. A rapid grower, most grace- 

 ful and most durable. A pair of these 

 we have in mind have within the past 

 six years been 500 times packed and 

 unpacked and withstood heat and cold, 

 gas and dust, and still stand today in 

 the broad sun with their arching 

 fronds perfect. 



P. leonensis, or spinosa. Habit 

 slightly stiffer than rupicola, very 

 handsome, with dark shining color of 

 leaf. This is a species we do not see 

 often enough. As a small plant it is 

 most ornamental. 



P. dactylifera. The date palm. Not 

 quite so graceful but strong, robust, 

 dark shiny foliage; splendid for large 

 decorations or for summer ornament 

 in any position outside. 



Other species of useful phoenix are 

 P. pumila, P. canariensis, P. tenuis, 

 P. farinifera. 



Cocos Weddeliana. This little gem 

 of a palm, for such it is, is now raised 

 in immense quantities. It has when 

 but six or eight inches high all the 

 grace and beauty of a plant three feet 

 high, and for that reason it is held in 

 the highest esteem for the center of 

 small ferneries. When these dinner 

 table decorations are returned with 

 the ferns dried and dead the cocos 

 still looks perfect. Larger specimens 



Established 1857. 



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