Notes on Planting. 267 



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The Washingtonia filifera, the common fan palm, is so named on 

 account of the thread-like filaments hanging from the fans and most 

 conspicuous on the young growth. The oldest specimens are in the 

 gardens of Mr. W. W. Stewart and Mr. E. W. Morse. They are not 

 over twenty years from seed. Within a few years the double row 

 on Orange avenue, Coronado, will be one of the sights of Southern 

 California, every plant perfect and none missing to mar the sym- 

 metry. 



This variety is better for large grounds, avenue and park culti- 

 vation than for small gardens, where some of the rarer and slower 

 growing palms are more desirable. In its native home it is found 

 in canyons along the water course. 



The Guadalupe islands palm or Erythea edulis is so named be- 

 cause of the edible fleshy pulp above the nut. This sort has very 

 large, smooth, dark green fans and is more spreading in habit than 

 the common fan. It is very beautiful, and more graceful when 

 allowed plenty of room and should be grown extensively in parks 

 and on lawns. 



Erythea armata, the blue palm, grows in canyons on the desert 

 side of the mountains, about thirty miles below the U. S. boundary 

 line. It is one of the most beautiful of cultivated palms, its very 

 slow growth being an advantage. The delicate grayish blue color 

 of its foliage and stems makes it a most effective palm for the lawn 

 or for grouping with contrasting foliage and its cultivation in small 

 yards should be much more extensive. The largest plants in the 

 city are at Mr. E. W. Morse's, and are about fifteen years old. This 

 sort is difficult to transplant unless set from a pot or box. 



All of these three native palms are grown from the seed, which 

 usually germinates in three to twelve months when sown in the 

 open ground. The blue palm seed sometimes takes three years in 

 which to germinate ! 



The summer or growing season is the only time of year when 

 the palms need care, plenty of water and enriching. As a rule the 

 plants are trimmed too severely. Unless a leaf is dead or broken it 

 should not be removed. 



The Ficus or fig family is a large and useful one, furnishing the 

 fig of commerce, the India rubber producing tree of the tropics and 

 not a few ornamental trees and shrubs. If you will observe the 

 large rubber tree on Eighth street, between C and D, on the east 

 side, with its large dark green leaves and strong, substantial trunk, 

 and then compare the shrubby tree directly opposite on the west 

 side with similar but smaller leaves quite a lesson can be learned. 

 The former is the Ficus macrophyllum (meaning large leaf) or the 



