STKEET TREES. 39 



DATE PALM, 



The Canary Island date palm* is the most popular palm for park 

 or street planting, being more hardy than the true date palm, larger 

 and more vigorous in gi-owth, and producing no suckers from the 

 base of the trunk. Well-gi'own specimens in the California coast 

 districts (region 2) with trunks from 2 to 3 feet thick and immense 

 crowns of spreading deep-green leaves are among the most imposing 

 forms of plant life. Though less robust in other regions, the species 

 is very hardy and adapted for planting anyw^here in the palm belt 

 (regions 3, 5, 12, and 13). 



The true date palm^ is adapted to the warmer parts of regions 3 

 and 5, but it is much inferior to the Canary Island species for orna- 

 mental use because the foliage is less attractive, due to its habit of 

 sending out suckers from the base of the trunk. 



THE COCONUT AND ITS RELATIVES. 



The true coconut palm is confined to a narrow belt along the coast 

 of southern Florida, but other species of cocos are planted in the 

 coast districts of California. The species that is most prominent 

 in park and street plantings around San Diego, Los Angeles, 

 and Santa Barbara is usually known as Cocos 'plumosa or Cocos 

 romanzoffiana, and is a rather taU, slender palm with a long-jointed 

 trunk about 1 foot in diameter and long, spreading, feathery, deep- 

 green leaves. Another series is represented by Cocos yatay and 

 several similar species, often called Cocos australis in nursery cata- 

 logues. They have short, thick trunks, very glaucous grayish or 

 bluish foliage, and fleshy edible fruits, highly flavored, somewhat 

 like pineapples. These gray-leaved species are very hardy. An- 

 other coconut relative is the Chilean molasses palm,^ which has a 

 massive trunk 3 or 4 feet in diameter, specimens of which are growing 

 at a few places in California. 



OTHER PINNATE PALMS. 



The amethyst palm, a native of Australia, is commonly planted 

 in California. It usually appears in lists and nursery catalogues 

 as SeafortJiia elegans or ArcTiontopTioenix alexandrae, but it is now 

 recognized as distinct from both of these species and has received 

 a new name, Loroma amethystina. It is the only pinnate-leaved 

 palm, except certain species of Phoenix and Cocos, that grows freely 

 in the open air in the coast districts of California, from Santa Bar- 

 bara to San Diego. In habit and general appearance Loroma is 

 more like the royal palm, though with a smaller trunk and fewer 

 leaves. The pinkish purple drooping inflorescence is very attractive 

 and develops into a large cluster of scarlet berries. 



1 Phoenix canariensis Hort. 2 phoenix dactijUfera L. s jubaea chilensis Baill. 



