PALMS. 



297 



English gardens than by any other want, and he thought 



this the more remarkable from the fact that the superb 



collections of exotics grown in many parts of this country 



are quite unrivalled. That the plants which combine 



the qualities of dignity and grace as no others do, should 



be so neglected in 



a country where Pia. 131. 



vast sums are 



spent upon Orchids 



and almost every 



other tribe of 



exotics, and where 



these are culti- 

 vated better than 



anywhere else, is 



indeed somewhat 



singular. 



The Palms are 



plants that we 



know very little 



about as a rule ; 



but this is not at 



all surprising, for 

 practically they 

 belong to a dif- 

 ferent world to 

 ours. The oppo- 

 sites in every vein 

 of their structure 

 of our wiry twig- 

 ged and tortuous 

 Oaks and Elms, 

 they are as far 



removed from them geographically as structurally. Avoid- 

 ing the cold grim North, they luxuriate in the hottest 

 and moistest regions of the earth, spread for thousands 

 of miles along the banks of the Amazon and Orinoco 

 and their tributaries, running north all the way through 

 the Isthmus and Mexico, crossing the Mississippi, and 



Chamsedorea latifolia. 



