130 
During the fall of 1901, the writer visited the locality on El 
liott’s Key, but unfortunately, owing to the clearing of the land, 
the trees were all but exterminated. One poor lone specimen, 
evidently but the semblance of its former self, was found in the 
center of a pineapple field, and just about giving up its struggle to 
maintain an existence. Two other specimens were preserved in 
the vicinity of a dwelling, and these were the sole survivors. 
Before this destruction occurred, however, a number of speci- 
mens had been transplanted to a private place at Miami, on the 
mainland, some thirty miles north of their old home. Through 
the influence of a friend, permission was secured to remove one 
of these and ship it north. It was placed in the large palm house 
at the conservatories, where it still remains. It is extremely 
difficult to transport and transplant some palms, and this proved 
to be one of this kind, for it remained in a dormant condition for 
a year anda half. But finally a new leaf began to unfold, and 
shortly after a number of flower clusters began to open. These 
are now developing nicely and promise to mature. 
as known, this palm has never before flowered ina 
conservatory, and there is probably no other large specimen, out- 
side of Florida, under cultivation in the world. Young plants, 
grown from seed, are in several of the European collections, and 
in some of those in this country, but it will be years before they 
are large enough to flower. As already remarked, this palm 
attains a height of thirty or forty feet; the.specimen in the con- 
servatories is about twenty feet tall. In shipping it is necessary 
to cut off nearly all the leaves, so that our specimen as yet pre- 
sents but a poor resemblance to the palm as it grows in its native 
wilds. There the trunk is of beautiful symmetry, and is crowned 
by a rounded mass of leaves of a deep rich green, which much 
resemble those of the date palm. The leaves are rather stiff and 
have a clean-cut appearance. There are more graceful palms, 
but few approach this in the deep green of its leaves. 
At the time that this specimen was transported to the Garden, 
examples of several other species were also secured, and it is 
hoped that some of these too will eventually flower. 
GEORGE V. NASH. 
