626 FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 
keeled; margins spiny-toothed; lower part of keel reddish and strongly 
spiny-toothed. . 
P. uTiLis (useful). Stem branched, 60 feet high. Leaves glaucous, 
1 to 3 feet long, armed with sharp red spines; more or less erect. In 
gardens this is often called P. odoratissimus, but wrongly. 
P. VANDERMEESCHII (Vandermeesch’s). Stem light-coloured, 20 feet 
high, 5 or 6 inches thick. Leaves glaucous, stiff, erect, 2 to 3 feet long, 
nearly 2 inches broad, with prominent, spiny, red midrib, and thick, red, 
spiny margins. 
P. Verrcut (Veitch’s). Leaves about 2 feet long, arching and bending 
over when full grown; longitudinally striped with pure white and deep 
bright green; edges armed with soft spiny teeth. Plate 293. 
The chief requirement in growing Screw Pines is the 
stove temperature: given that, their cultivation is simple 
enough. They prefer a compost of about two parts sandy loam with one 
part leaf-mould, to which should be added a little charcoal. The pots 
must be well-drained, for the plants require much water during the 
summer; but in winter they must be kept fairly dry, and not 
watered overhead. The pots used should be large, for the roots always 
go straight down, and this has the effect of forcing the plant up out of 
the pot if small sizes are used. They are propagated from seeds, but 
chiefly from the suckers and offsets that grow round the base. These 
should be detached with a sharp knife, separately potted, and kept almost 
dry in a close propagating frame until well-rooted. These young plants 
so obtained make the most ornamental subjects for decorative purposes. 
Description of Pandanus Veitchi, Veitch’s Screw Pine, one-half the 
Plate 293. natural size. 
Cultivation. 
CALADIUMS 
Natural Order AROIDEZ. Genus Caladium 
CaLapium (the meaning of this word has not been explained by its 
author, Ventenat). A genus of stove perennials, allied to the Arwm,and . 
chiefly remarkable for their ornamental foliage. They have tuberous 
rootstocks rich in starch, on which account several species are cultivated 
in the Tropics to be used as food. The leaves are borne upon long foot- 
stalks, and are somewhat oval, more or less arrow-head-shaped, and often 
strikingly and richly coloured. The flowers are borne upon a stout 
spadix, which is partly covered by a hood-like spathe. The upper part 
