40 
PLANTS OF DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA 
federate Jessamine and is one of the 
best plants we grow. 
Vallaris dichotoma. A beautiful 
climber with dark rich foliage and white 
flowers. I have a fine specimen in the 
edge of my hammock. 
Zebrina pendula. This is the old, well- 
known Tradescantia zebrina, with its 
pretty purple and silvery striped leaves, 
everywhere grown in the north as a bas¬ 
ket plant. It would do very finely here 
in moist land and partial shade if the 
land crabs would let it alone, but they tear 
it to pieces in summer more than it grows 
the rest of the year. 
EXOTIC HERBACEOUS ORNAMENTALS. 
It is hard to draw the line between 
herbaceous plants and shrubs, or even 
between them and trees. I have placed 
the banana and traveler’s tree here, 
though they may have tree like propor¬ 
tions, because they are succulent and do 
not branch. 
Acalypha. The Acalyphas are among 
our most gorgeous garden ornamentals. 
When full grown the red leaved species 
look like sheets of flame on the landscape, 
but the descriptions in the cyclopedias 
are so vague as to be absolutely worth¬ 
less for purposes of identification. We 
have a form with large, dark, bronzy red 
leaves, variegated, often to half the leaf, 
with carmine. A second form has 
smaller, narrower leaves, the ground color 
lighter than in the first, and is more 
greenish, the light color being carmine. 
A third form has much the same colors 
as the second but the leaf is more 
coarsely serrate and is often contorted. 
A. marginata has green leaves margined 
with white, the green turning to deep red 
bronze in winter, the white to pink or 
red. A. miltoniana is an elegant form 
with narrow, often curled, cut, whitish 
edged leaves and there is a fine sport 
from it with broader leaves, the borders 
margined and blotched with yellow. All 
these do well here, the A. marginata 
being the strongest grower and the 
hardiest. A. godseffiana, beautifully mar¬ 
gined white and pink, has not done well 
with me. A. sanderi has long cat-tail¬ 
like, brilliant red flower spikes, but is 
quite tender. 
Achyranthes and Alternantheras,. 
richly colored plants, have not succeeded 
with me. 
Aechmea. Choice epiphytic plants 
which do well \yhen fastened on to trees- 
in the hammock. A. discolor has broad 
leaves, deep green above and rich purple 
below, with coral red calyxes and deep 
blue corollas. 
Alocasia. Several species of this- 
Aroid genus are fine, but there is great 
confusion as to systematic position. A., 
macrorhiza and its variegated variety are 
often cultivated. A roezeli has hand¬ 
some green leaves spotted whitish. 
Agave. I have about 25 species of 
this fine genus and all are doing well or 
promise to. A. americana, variegated 
variety is especially fine, so is A. sal- 
monea and A. recurvata. A. victoria 
regime is a little gem. These plants once 
established soon propagate themselves by 
underground suckers, and when they 
bloom, by bulblets. I have a plant of an 
unnamed species with a spread of 13 feet 
and a height of nearly 11, which shows 
no signs of blossoming. Plants bloom 
here sometimes within three or four 
years after planting. 
Alpinia nutans, Shell Flower. A 
handsome, rank growing, canna-like 
plant, with curious and elegant flowers 
which does best in rich, rather moist soil. 
A. mutica, with whitish crimson veined 
flowers does well on pine land. 
Annuals of several kinds do well here 
in the cooler part of the year and espe¬ 
cially if watered. Phlox drummondii,. 
Petunias, Portulaca, Iberis or Candytuft 
and Marigolds make the garden gay in 
winter and spring. 
Anthurium. I have not succeeded well 
with most of the species offered in the 
catalogues. A. huegelii perhaps, a stately 
plant with immense, oblong leaves, which 
I have introduced from the limestone 
mountains of Cuba, grows finely here 
and will be an excellent plant for rock¬ 
eries. 
Asparagus sprengeri is used a good 
deal for vases and does well. 
