Fa ee ee 
KENTIAS 617 
EICHHORNIA AZUREA (blue). Rhizome wavy, floating 
and rooting. Leaves variable, from round, heart-shaped to 
rhomboid, 3 to 8 inches across, the stalks not swollen. Flowers bright 
pale blue, hairy outside; in erect racemes; July. Native of Brazil. 
E. cRASSIPES (thick-footed). Rhizome thick. Leaves roundish, 
fleshy ; stalk much swollen near the base. Flowers violet, 14 inch long, 
in a many-flowered raceme, with a spathe below; July. Native of 
Brazil. Also known as Pontederia crassipes. Plate 287. 
Kichhornias should be grown in a stove tank, as 
they require to be in water that has a temperature of from 
60° to 80°. They may be planted in large pots, and these sunk in the 
tank ;. but this is not necessary, as the stems float and root. Where 
potted, the soil should be of a rich character. They readily increase by 
means of stoloniferous growths. 
Description of Eichhornia crassipes, reduced about one-third less 
Plate 287. than the natural size, showing stems, roots, leaves, spathe, 
and flowers. 
Principal Species. 
Cultivation. 
KENTIAS 
Natural Order PALM&. Genus Howea 
HoweEa (named from Lord Howe's Island, the natural home of the 
species). A genus of several species of stove or warm greenhouse Palms, 
with fek. stems attaining a height of over 30 feet, and large leaves 
—6 to 8 feet long—divided into numerous slender segments. The flowers 
are individually small, the sexes separate, but are gathered into branching 
spikes. The fruit is one-celled. 
OWEA BELMOREANA (Belmore’s). Curly Palm. Leaves 
with the segments taking an upward direction. Flower- 
spikes nodding, crowded with the flowers. Fruit oblong, over an inch 
long. Plate 288. Also known as Kentia belmoreana. 
H. FORSTERIANA (Forster's). Thatch-leaf Palm. Similar to the last 
in all respects, except that the leaf-segments hang downwards instead 
of growing upwards. Also known as Kentia forsteriana. 
These Palms require stove treatment throughout the 
greater part of the year, but may be used outside for sub- 
tropical gardening. They should be planted in pots or tubs, according 
to the size of specimens, using a compost of equal parts loam and peat, 
or light loam simply, with the addition of a little sand. They must 
have plenty of water at the roots during the summer, and frequent 
rages 
Species. 
Cultivation. 
