156 OENAMENTAL FOLUGE PLANTS. 



long, and quite vmarmed. The "Chusan Palm," as this 

 species is often called, is a very, handsome plant for the 

 Bub-tropical garden, even in cold summers, and in situa- 

 tions too cold for it to stand the severity of winter, but 

 there can be little doubt of its thriving well in the open 

 air anywhere south of London. It is a native of Northern 

 China. 



C. humilis. — An extremely handsome plant, and very 

 interesting from the fact of its being a native of Europe, 

 thus connecting these denizens of the tropics with our 

 European Flora. In its native habitats it sometimes 

 attains a height of twenty feet, when it presents a splendid 

 appearance, with its straight columnar stem, clothed in 

 many instances with rough fibres, and the persistent bases 

 of the old petioles. At other times it is not so effective ; 

 this is when it produces a quantity of suckers from the 

 base. Under these circumstances the stems seldom exceed 

 three or four feet in height, and the plants present more 

 the appearances of bushes than trees, therefore, if a tall 

 stem is required under cultivation, the suckers should 

 be carefully removed as soon as they make their appear- 

 ance. The leaves of this species are glaucous on both 

 sides, divided about one third their length into narrow 

 segments, which stand erect ; the petioles are also 

 glaucous, about three or four feet in length, and armed 

 at the edges with stout spines. It is a native of Southern 

 Europe. 



C. humviUs arhoresc&ns, — This is a somewhat rare and 

 exceedingly handsome variety of the species. The stem is 

 more slender, and it attains a greater height than that 

 of 0. hwmilis; the petioles are from two lo three feet in 

 length, armed at the- edges with brown spines, stained 

 dark brown at the base, and enclosed in a mass of very 



