PLANTS FOR HOUSE DECORATION. 



87 



purposes the most useful, by reason of their graceful habit and 

 long-lasting qualities. Amongst these may be recommended 

 Corypha australis, Latania borbonica, and Cocos Weddelliana. 

 This last is decidedly the most graceful and best lasting Palm 

 that can be used for house decoration. Up to a recent date it 

 was generally thought that the plant required a much warmer 

 temperature, and that it would only last a few days in an 

 ordinary living-room. I have proved, however, that with ordi- 

 nary care it will last for more than two years in even a cold and 

 draughty position. I have had some plants in my house for 

 nearly two years, which are looking at the present day as well as 

 they did the first day they were brought in. They are also 

 very pretty when grown in small thimble -pots, which can then 

 be easily put into the smallest drawing-room vase. Phoenix 

 rupicola is also a very graceful and useful Palm, but has not the 

 long-enduring qualities of Cocos Weddelliana. Kentia Belmor- 

 eana, like Cocos Weddelliana, is one of the most useful for all 

 purposes. Plants of this lovely Palm can be grown to a height 

 of 12 to 15 inches in a 2^-inch pot, and will last in a drawing- 

 room six months or more if kept well watered and clean. We 

 have some specimens from 30 to 35 feet in height which are 

 simply grand, and although they have been subjected to all sorts 

 of hard treatment for many years they are very little the worse 

 for it. Any of the following are also available for room or 

 flower-box decoration, namely, Areca Baueri and A. lutescens, 

 Cocos flexuosa, Chamcerops excelsa, Geonoma gracilis, Phoenix 

 reclinata and P. tenuis, Bhapis flabelliformis, and Thrinax 

 elegans. 



Amongst ornamental and coloured foliage plants the following 

 may safely be relied upon as being very useful and satisfactory, 

 and possessing long-lasting qualities : Ananassa saliva, Asparagus 

 plumosa and A . procumbens. Plants of the latter are most graceful 

 and useful by reason of their pretty feathery and procumbent 

 habit, and their adaptability for decorating vases and mantel- 

 pieces. When used with Orchids or other flowers they produce 

 an exceedingly charming effect. Bambusa nigra and B. falcata 

 are two most graceful and useful plants. Many handsome 

 Crotons may be used with impunity for house and window-box 

 decoration. The following Dracaenas are also very pretty, and 

 may be used to great advantage : Dracaena australis, D.fragrans 



