DECORATIVE PLANTS 



of them are quite as attractive, in a different 

 way. Those who are fond of a change will do 

 well to take up some of these plants. After 

 giving them a trial I am sure they will be de- 

 lighted with them. 



At the head of the list I would place the 

 Aspidistra. Why it has never become more 

 popular with the rank and file of plant-growers 

 in this country I have never been able to under- 

 stand. In Europe, and especially in Paris, we 

 see it used in great quantities, and with ex- 

 ceedingly fine effect. It may lack the stateli- 

 ness of the Palm, but what it lacks in this re- 

 spect it makes up for in its profusion of foliage, 

 its rich coloring, and the wonderful ease with 

 which it is grown. For any one who can grow 

 a Geranium can grow the Aspidistra, and 

 grow it to perfection. Indeed, it requires much 

 less care than that plant. 



The writer has a plant about ten years old, 

 growing in a fourteen-inch pot. It has, by 

 actual count, over two hundred leaves, from 

 eighteen to twenty-four inches in length, not 

 counting in the leaf-stalk. The leaves of this 

 plant are all sent up from the roots, as the 

 plant never has any branches. In color they 

 are very dark, rich green with shining surface, 



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