778 



HOVEY 



edge of varieties. Straightway he began assiduously 

 to collect varieties, until he exhibited pears, apples and 

 camellias by the hundreds, and plums, grapes, chrysan- 

 tberaums and many other things by the score. These 

 things were shown before the Massachusetts Horticul- 



1105. Bluets— Houstonia caemlea 1X^2)- 

 (See Houstonia, p. 777.) 



tural Society, which was the center of horticultural 

 influence of the country. He raised many seedlings. 

 Thuya Hovi^yl is still prized as a garden conifer. His 

 greatest contribution to horticultural varieties was tbe 

 Hovey strawberry, which first fruited in 183f>, and 

 which is generally regarded as the starting-point of 

 American commercial strawberry - growing (see Fig. 

 1088). For many years this berry was the standard of 

 market excellence. Mr. Hovey continued to grow it and 

 cherish it until the end. The writer remembers with 

 what enthusiasm he expatiated on its virtxics Jiut a very 

 few years befori_i his death. Mr. Hovey was long an act- 

 ive member, and for a time president, of the Massachu- 

 setts Horticultural Society. He was one of the active 

 projectors of the liuilding whi(di gave the Society a new 

 and more commodious home. The history of the society 

 records that, when the project was in doubt, "the per- 

 severance and determination of the president of the 

 society and chairman of the liuilding committee, Charles 

 M. Hovey, triumphed over every hindrance, and carried 

 the work on to success." 



A portrait of Mr. Hovey will be found in the lirst vol- 

 ume of the "Fi'uits of Americn." Another occurs in 

 "Gardeners' j\lonthly" for 188(1 (frontis7>iece) and 

 "American Garden, " Nov., 1887; and a reduction of this 

 appears in Fig. IIOG. L_ jj 3 



HOWEA (named for Lord Howe's Island, where these 

 2 species grow). Also written Hoiwia. Pah/iclcea'. A 

 genus of only 2 species, known I0 the trade as Kentias, 

 and certainly ranking among the G most popular palms 

 for house culture. They have the habit of Kentia, but 

 their fis. differ widely. Howea belongs to a subtribe in 

 which the fls. in each spadix are attached to the stem 

 between the bases of opposite ivs., while Kentiabelongs 

 to another subtribe in wliich tlir lis. are attached at a 

 lower point. Also Howea has symmetrical staminate fls. 

 with rotund sepals, while in Kentia the staminate fls. 

 are not symmetrical, the sepals being small and acute. 



HOWEA 



Howea's nearest cultivated ally is Liuospadix, from 

 which it is distinguished by the following characters: 

 staminate fls. with very numerous stamens, the anthers 

 erect and fastened at the base; pistillate fls. with no 

 staminodes : ovule erect, -ff. BeJmoreana is the more 

 popular of the two species, and as a house plant may be 

 readily told from U. Forsteriana by the more nearly 

 erect position of its leaf segments; those of M. For- 

 steriana are more pendent. Howeas are erer-t, spineless 

 palms, with stout ringed caudex : Ivs. terminal, nu- 

 merous, dense, equally pinnatisect: segments narrow, 

 acuminate: spadices 2-3 ft. long, solitary or 3-5 from 1 

 spathe, thick, cylindrical, nodding orpendulous: pedun- 

 cle long, compressed at the base: spathe solitary, as 

 long as the spadix, cylindrical, 2-keeled toward the 

 apex, longitudinally split: bracts bordering the chan- 

 nels; bractlets scaly: fls. sunk in the deep furrows of 

 the spadix, the staminate nearly an inch long; fr. 13^ in 

 long, olive-shaped. 



Belmore&:na, Becc. {Kentia Bi'tmorectna, F. Muell.) 

 Curly Palm. Fig. 1107. Described and distinguished 

 above. B.M. 7018. R.H. 1897:256 and p. 257; G.C. HI, 

 8:75. T.H. 21:191. A. G. 13:141; 10.345. Mn. 9:25.-Var, 

 variegita, Hort. Adv. 1895 by Pitcher & Manda. 



Forsteriana, Becc. [Kevtia Forsterictyia, F. Muell.) 

 Flat or That<'h Leaf Palm. G.C.ITL8:75 and 533, 

 S.H. 2:53. A.G. 1G:34(J. A.F. 4:505; 14:701. 



Jaked G. Smith and W. M. 



The two species of this genus are beyond a doubt the 

 most popular and also the most satisfactory palms in 

 the trade for decorative work in general, and in conse- 

 quence of the great and growing demand, are grown by 

 tens of thousands in the large nurseries. There does 

 not seem to be any record of either of these species hav- 

 ing borne fruit in cultivation in this country, and the 

 trade, therefore, depends on imported seeds, which are 

 gathered in immense quantities on Lord Howe's Island, 

 iisually shipped from thence to Sydney, N. S. W., and 

 from the latter port to either London or New York. 

 This long voyage is a severe test of the vitality of such 

 seeds, and frequently results in faulty germination, the 

 average of germination seldom exceeding 50 percent, 

 and is often much less. Two heavy shipments of 

 Howea seeds are made each year, the first installment 

 arriving in February or March, and the second in Sep- 

 tember or October. Many growers favor the autumn 

 shipment of these seeds as giving the best results. The 

 seeds should be sown at once on their arrival, the prac- 

 tice followed by large growers being that of broadcast- 

 ing the seeds on a side-bench in a warm greenhouse on, 

 2 to 3 inches of light soil, then covering them with 1 

 inch of the same compost, watering liberally and keep- 

 ing up a bottom heat of about 80°. Under such treat- 

 ment some of the seeds may germinate in two months, 

 but others in the same lot mny not start for eight or 



Hovey 



nine months, tvoin which it will be seen tbnt the opera- 

 tion extends over a considerable period of time. The 

 seedlings should be potted into small pots when the 

 first leaf is expanded, kept moist and given a night 

 temperature of 05°, the greenhouse in which they are 



