^ THE GARDEN BOOK OF CALIFORNIA 



type, or (or potted plants on balcony or in conservatory 

 . Of the dwarf forms Cocas gaertneri is one of the prettiest 

 of the blue-leaved sorts, and has a pleasant fruit. Cocos 

 maritima and Cocos bonnetti are also specially desirable. 

 While Cocos plumosa is the variety most advocated by the 

 commercial growers, yet when side by side with Cocos 

 bolryphora (from which, when young, it can be distin- 

 guished with difficulty by the amateur), there is no com- 

 parison between them, so much more graceful and beauti- 

 ful is Cocos botryphora after it has attained some maturity. 



The trees at Montecito introduced by Mr. Gillespie are : 

 of the plumosa type, Cocos plumosa, Cocos flexuosa, Cocos 

 datil, Cocos marie rosa, Cocos comosa, Cocos botryphora, 

 Cocos romanzoffiana, Cocos coronata; of the hardy type, 

 Cocos argenla, Cocos brazikensis, Cocos alphonsei, Cocos 

 maritima, Cocos blumena via, Cocos 'schizophylla, Cocos 

 tapida, Cocos butyracea, Cocos australis plumosa, Cocos 

 eriospatha, Cocos australis, Cocos gaertneri, Cocos odorata, 

 Cocos campestris, Cocos patered, Cocos ijafajj, Cocos bon- 

 netti. 



Many of these are gray-leaved of that peculiarly soft 

 blue and gray and green mixture that only plant chemistry 

 can produce and which blends so wonderfully with the bril- 

 liancy of our sky and the distant purples of the horizon. 

 Many of them are dwarf forms and specially suitable for 

 planting in gardens where the space is limited. 



I am greatly enamored of the plumosa type as well, 

 with their slender trunks and their soft plumes waving 



[50] 



