8l2 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



in warm weather is the most powerful preventive to many of 

 those pests. Fumigations will soon kill the Thrips, and careful 

 spongings will remove the other pests, though spraying with a 

 weak solution of kerosene emulsion is best for the Scale. The 

 spraying should be repeated in about ten or twelve days. 

 Cultivated Palms are liable to have their foliage attacked by 

 a fungus known as Pestalozzia phanids, a relative of the Grey 

 Blioht of Tea Plants. The leaves are covered with small 

 greyish blotches, which soon increase in size and number. 

 Spraying with sulphide of potassium — loz. to 3gals. of water — 

 might be tried ; while in bad attacks the foliage had better be 

 destroyed by burning. 



Selection of Kinds. — It is estimated that the number of 

 species of Palms known at the present time exceeds iioo, but 

 only a certain number of them have so far found place in our 

 houses. The fine collection at Kew comprises more than 400 

 species. Our enumeration must be confined to species in 

 general cultivation, omitting those of only botanical value. 

 The best known genera in gardens are : Areca, Astrocarywji^ 

 Attalea^ Calamus^ Caryota, Chamcedorea^ Cocos, Geo?20??ia, 

 HyphcEiia^ Licuala, Lwisto7ta, and Phoenix. The nomenclature 

 is based on the Kew classification. 



AcANTHOPHGENix. — Tliis Small genus is only represented in 

 cultivation by two or three species, natives of Mauritius and the 

 Bourbon Islands. They are in some respects closely allied to Areca, 

 and very decorative. Their leaves are pinnate, and their petioles 

 are armed with spines, which form a characteristic of Areca. 

 They require stove treatment, a good supply of water, and a 

 light soil. A. crmita {A. Herbstii^ Areca crinita, and Calamus 

 dealbatus) has curved leaves of a rather pale green, and with 

 their under-parts of a whitish colour ; this species often presents 

 a shiny, yellowish appearance. A. rubra is quite distinct from 

 the above on account of its longer leaves, which in their young 

 state are of a reddish colour, and when fully developed change 

 to a splendid deep green ; the spines are not so numerous as 

 on A. crinita. 



AcANTHORHiZA. — Another small genus which only a few years 

 ago was included with the ChamcBrops and Thrinax^ and 

 which differs from Tj-ithriitax by its aerial roots, which very 

 often are taken for spines. This genus is only represented in 

 cultivation by two or three species which are very decorative. 

 A sandy compost suits them admirably. A. aculeata {A. 

 stauracantha and ChamcBrops stauracantha) is a well-known 

 greenhouse plant, widely cultivated, and used with great success 

 for outdoor ornamentation, chiefly in the southern counties ; its 

 numerous roots when fully developed change into spines ; the 

 leaves, which are palmate, are divided into segments of a deep 



