1 8 Subtropical Gardening. 



dalis are also excellent and distinct. They are easily struck from 

 cuttings taken from old plants put in heat in spring, and are, like 

 most large soft growing things in this way, best planted out in a 

 young state, so as to insure a fresh and unstinted growth. P. pyra- 

 midalis is the newest of the group, and that least known in cultivation. 

 I saw it several times during the past season in Paris. The leaves 

 are not so large as those of the other species, and differ in shape, 

 being nearly cordate, but the growth is most vigorous and the habit 

 distinct. It pushes up a narrowly pyramidal head of foliage to a 

 height of nearly ten feet in Paris gardens, and will be found to do 

 well in the south of England. 



PHORMIUM TENAX (the New Zealand Flax). This is tolerably 

 well known among us as a greenhouse and conservatory subject, 

 but not nearly so much grown as it ought to be. What a grand 

 use the French make of it, both indoors in the winter, and in 

 the conservatory and out of doors in summer ! About Paris it is 

 of course as tender as with us, and requires the same amount of 

 attention, which, after all, is very little. They grow it by the 

 thousand for the decoration of rooms, and in the great nursery 

 of the city of Paris at Passy there are 10,000 plants of it, chiefly 

 used for the embellishment of the Hotel de Ville. I need hardly 

 say that we are much worse off for graceful things for indoor de- 

 coration than the French, and should in consequence grow this 

 plant abundantly, according to our space. When grown to a 

 medium size its leaves begin to arch over, and when in that con- 

 dition nothing makes a more graceful and distinct ornament for 

 room or hall. It may be grown to presentable perfection in an 

 eight-inch pot, or to a great mass of bold long leaves in a tub a yard 

 in diameter. Generally with us it will be found to enjoy greenhouse 

 temperature, though in genial places in the south and west of 

 Ireland and England it does very well in the open air. Its best 

 use is for the decoration of the garden in summer, a few speci- 

 mens well grown and plunged in the grass or the centre of a bed 

 giving a most distinct aspect to the scene. The larger such 



