and black, which 
GANNA. 
The Canna is a fine foliage plant, making a good bed alone, but particularly desirable as the 
center of a group of foliage plants, of which it is one of the very best. 
Growing from four to six feet. The leaves are sometimes two feet in 
length, of a beautiful green, some varieties tinted with red. The flowers 
are on spikes, pretty, but not conspicuous. Roots can be taken up in 
the autumn and placed in the cellar. They flourish and are vigorous in the 
dryest and hottest weather. A bed of 
Cannas presents a very beautiful tropical 
appearance that is exceedingly pleasant, 
contrasting delightfully with the ordinary 
foliage of the garden. In the West 
Indies a superior kind of arrowroot is , 
made from the fleshy underground stems ; ; 
the tubers of some species are eaten as a 
vegetable. The seeds are large, round 
gives its common name, Indian Shot. The Canna and the Ricinus w^e 
consider the two best foliage plants known for ordinary use in this country, A good bed of 
Cannas, and another of Ricinus, will almost make one dream he is luxuriating in the tropics. 
GALADIUM ESGULENTUM. 
The Caladium is one of the handsomest of the ornamental-leaved plants. The leaves are 
often more than a foot in length, nearly as much in breadth,, 
and of a beautiful green, somewhat variegated or mottled. 
Roots obtained in the spring will make a good growth in the 
summer, and in the fall should be taken up and stored in the 
cellar, like Dahlias. The Caladium delights in heat and 
moisture, and in localities pretty well North it is well to start 
the root stalks, or rhizomes, which the fleshy bulb-like root is 
called, in the house a few weeks before 
it is time to plant in the garden, as in 
this way a larger and earlier growth is 
obtained. The Caladium is a native of 
very warm countries, such as the Sand- 
wich Islands and the West Indies, and as 
the roots abound in starch, they are eaten 
by the natives, after being deprived of their acrid properties by some process of cookery, or 
perhaps filtering, in some such manner as the Indians of California remove the tannin and 
bitter taste from the acorns, which they do by washing and filtering through the sand. 
GALLA. 
This is the well-known Egyptian Lily, or Lily of the Nile, Its large white flowers are indis- 
pensable in the winter, its foliage is broad and good, and it will pros- 
per under very adverse circumstances, if water 
is provided in abundance. It is also an excel- 
lent plant for aquariums — none better, either 
placed in the center bedded in a little earth and 
sand, w^hich may be covered with stones, or 
planted in a pot which can be placed in the 
aquarium, and so covered with pieces of rock 
as to be entirely concealed. In the spring, 
the plant may be set in the garden, where 
it can remain until autumn, when it should be repotted for winter flowering. It will not appear 
to advantage in the garden, nor is it designed to do so, the object being to place it where it will 
be no trouble and at the same time gain strength for winter blooming. In California the Calla 
makes a wonderful growth, and is perfectly hardy, as, of course, it is in the South. 
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