PLANTS OF DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA 
45 
tinted bluish or violet, which is often 
grown around houses. It should have 
plenty of fertilizer to make it do its best, 
and it likes moisture. 
ORCHIDS. 
I must devote a few words to these 
strange, lovely and interesting plants be¬ 
fore I close this list. I have about 70 
species of epiphytal and sub-epiphytal 
orchids in my hammock. A few of them 
are native, the. rest of them I have 
planted on the trees and this may be suc¬ 
cessfully done by any one who has ham¬ 
mock. The plant is placed in proper po¬ 
sition on a tree and narrow pieces of 
shingle or thin board are nailed with one 
end on the tree and the other pressing 
the roots to the tree. Galvanized or 
copper wire may be used for fastening, 
but care should be taken that the roots 
are not smothered. It is absolutely es¬ 
sential that the plants be firmly placed, 
for if they can be moved about they will 
not become established. I put a little 
sphagnum around the roots and water 
occasionally until they are established. I 
have bloom from time to time throughout 
the year, and when they are all estab¬ 
lished I shall have a constant succession 
of flowers. The Cattleyas stand at the 
head of these, both because they are so 
much at home and for their superb blos¬ 
soms. The Laelias are almost equally 
fine. The Dendrobiums generally do 
well and so do the Epidendrums. Schom- 
burgkia tibicina, the Vandas, Oncidiums, 
Zygopetahims, Miltonias and some others 
do well. I doubt if the Odontoglossums 
succeed. I have not tried Phalanopsis, 
but it is doing well in pots for Mr. John 
Soar. 
The above list of ornamental plants 
of Dade county is nowhere near com¬ 
plete. There are no doubt, many things 
cultivated by others that I have not seen 
which should be included and there are 
hundreds of species that I have, or have 
had, that I have not listed, partly be¬ 
cause to do so would extend this paper 
beyond reasonable limits, and in part on 
account of not having had many of them 
long enough to form any idea of what 
they will do. I have growing now, or 
have had, everything in the above list, 
with perhaps a dozen exceptions. Many 
will succeed when other trials with them 
have been made. It was a long time 
before success was reached by floricul¬ 
turists in the north with the Victoria 
regia, and for a time it was believed it 
could not be made to grow under glass, 
but now it and other species are com¬ 
mon. A few things, probably, which now 
promise well, will fail for various rea¬ 
sons. But we can have no conception 
of the immense variety of species from 
the warmer parts of the world that will 
flourish in this favored land. If treated 
right this poor soil becomes better and 
better as the years go by, fitted for a 
greater variety of plant life. When one 
begins, it is in some cases sour, and culti¬ 
vation sweetens it. Roots decay and add 
to its fertility. I never destroy an atom 
of anything that grows with me, weeds, 
grass, leaves, broken limbs, are all used 
as mulch and to make humus, the cry¬ 
ing need of the soil. And as one’s trees 
and shrubs become grown they shade the 
ground and afford protection in a marked 
degree from the sun, frosts and hurri¬ 
canes. 
No attempt has been made in this 
paper to bring the nomenclature down 
to date or to adopt any system used by 
anybody. It was prepared in the great¬ 
est possible haste on account of lack of 
time to properly handle the subject. I 
have simply given a name that has at 
some time been applied to each plant 
discussed. 
With regard to propagation I could 
not give detailed instruction without ex¬ 
tending this paper beyond reasonable 
limits. A large number of our cultivated 
plants raise fertile seeds which can be 
easily grown. Many may be propagated 
from suckers or layers; the Ficus can 
be air-layered, that is in the rainy sea¬ 
son, a cut may be made in a limb, which 
is kept open by a bit of wood. Sphag¬ 
num moss is wrapped around the wound 
and the whole is tied up with twine and 
wetted occasionally. Most soft-wooded 
species can be rooted from cuttings, 
though these will not root so readily 
from plants in the open as from those 
growing in pots. If one has much propa¬ 
gating to do he should build a slat house 
