SUCCULENT PLANTS. 



615 



C. siamensis is largely grown in France, due no 

 doubt to its being abundant in Siam and Cochin China, 

 from whence its broad - based stems are imported in 

 quantity. It bears elegant, bright-green, feathery fronds 

 4 feet long, and is said to be as hardy as 0. revoluta, but 

 with us it thrives only in a warm house. 



Fig. 743.— Zamia Lindeni. 



Dioon. — The two species known have short, thick stems 

 and large, stiff, flat, pinnate leaves with spinous leaflets. 

 The cones are as large as a man's head, and the scales 

 are encased in thick felt-like hairs (see fig. 741, 1 ). There 

 are striking examples of both at Kew, the newer one, D. 

 pectinatum, being much the handsomer; it is distinguished 

 by its larger toothed leaflets. Both species come from 

 Mexico, and require stove treatment. D. edule, D. pec- 

 tinatum (spinulosum). 



Encephalartos. — An African genus, of which the 

 "Kaffir bread ", E. Caffer, is the best known. All the species 

 have thick trunks, and they live to a great age; there are 

 examples at Kew which have been there over a hundred 

 years. Generally the leaves are very rigid and spinous, 

 E. horridus being of most forbidding aspect. Some of 

 the species have finely-divided elegant leaves, i.e. E. 

 Frederici-Guilielmi, and E. Ghellinckii, and some may be 

 grown in a greenhouse, although they are happiest under 

 tropical treatment. E. Altensteinii, E. Caffer, E. Frederici- 

 Guilielmi, E. Ghellinckii, E. Hildebrandtii, E. horridus, 

 E. Lehmanni, E. villosus. 



Macrozamia. — The Australian representatives of the 

 order, and several of them are perhaps the handsomest of 

 all Cycads. It would be difficult to find nobler foliage 

 plants than M. Hopei and M. Macleayi as represented at 

 Kew. They all have very thick butt-like stems, and long 

 pinnate leaves; some species, such as M. Fraseri and M. 

 plumosa, have pinnules as narrow as in Cycas. They are 

 all tropical. M. flexuosa, M. Fraseri, M. Hopei, M. 

 Macleayi (Denisoni), M. plumosa, M. spiralis. 



Stangeria paradoxa has already been described. It 



forms a handsome Fern -like specimen 6 feet through. It 

 prefers hot, moist treatment. 



Zamia. — The Western genus and by far the most 

 variable. Generally the plants are not happy under cul- 

 tivation. They appear to prefer shade and moisture with 

 a decided rest in a lower temperature, with dry treatment, 

 for a month or two after growth. When happy they are 

 strikingly handsome. The genus is a large one, and is 

 well represented at Kew. The best species for ordinary 

 collections are Z. latifolia, Z. Lindeni (fig. 743), Z. Loddi- 

 (jesii, Z. purnila,, Z. pygmcea, and Z. Skinneri. 



CHAPTEE XXXYI. 



SUCCULENT PLANTS. 



Cultivation — Cacti and their Treatment — List of 

 Succulent Plants. 



This term is applied to certain genera and 

 species of plants which are remarkable for their 

 fleshy leaves or stems, a character which en- 

 ables them to support the peculiar conditions 

 under which they are found wild. Usually 

 they are exposed for long periods to excessive 

 sunlight and drought — "Their usual habitats are 

 dry sandy and stony plains, waste rocky pla- 

 teaux and crevices of rocks, which are almost 

 completely wanting in soil. They inhabit 

 regions where no rain falls for about three- 

 fourths of the year. Most of them have in 

 their tissue peculiar aggregates of cells which 

 apparently serve for the storing up of water 

 for the dry season. Succulent plants have been 

 not inaptly compared to camels, 'the ships of 

 the desert ', which provide themselves with a 

 large quantity of water, and are then able to 

 dispense with further supplies for a long time 

 without injury " (Kerner). 



Under cultivation it is not necessary to with- 

 hold water from these plants except perhaps for a 

 few weeks in winter, and some successful growers 

 of them do not keep them dry even that time. 

 For the greater portion of the year they may 

 be watered as regularly as Pelargoniums or 

 Begonias, provided they have at the same time 

 as much sunlight as possible. They do not die 

 if kept dry for a long period, but they are not 

 benefited by it; on the contrary, they are often 

 weakened. 



The tender species should be grown in houses 

 or frames where they will recerre little or no 

 shade, even in very sunny weather. Many of 

 them may be placed in the open air from June 

 to the end of September: they all enjoy plenty 

 of air. Their power to endure drought without 

 suffering fits them for gardens or positions where 

 daily attention cannot be afforded. The most 



