200 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
VALUE OF NATIVE ORNAMENTAL PLANTS 
A. W. Allen, Sebring, Fla. 
Mr. President , Ladies and Gentlemen : 
The subject that the Chairman of the 
Committee on Ornamentals has asked me 
to speak on is one which I would have 
hesitated to accept, knowing as I do that 
in its entirety it comprises the beginning 
and end of horticulture. From the time 
that Adam and Eve first ate of the forbid¬ 
den fruit and thereafter took into cultiva¬ 
tion the native plants and raised them 
with the sweat of their brows, till the 
time that the human race, hardily existing 
on a parched and dying earth, ransacks 
the corners thereof for something green, 
all mankind has gone and will continue 
to go to the native vegetation for his food, 
clothing and shelter—and also for the sat¬ 
isfaction of his inborn sense of the beauti¬ 
ful. 
This subject is so immense that it would 
be impossible for any man to cover it in 
a lifetime, but when the aforesaid Chair¬ 
man tacked on to her request the words, 
“I believe this would be of great use to 
many pioneers who have not the means 
of purchasing nursery stock/’ I saw the 
point and at the risk of incurring the 
deep displeasure of my good friends, the 
nurserymen, I will try to tell of some of 
the commoner native plants that are avail¬ 
able for garden purposes. 
In the first place I want to impress on 
the new settlers, and on some of the old 
ones, too, that the best way to get a lovely 
garden or yard or waterfront is to leave 
the choicest of the native plants where 
they are growing. To often a gang is 
put into a lot or home site with a con¬ 
tract to clear and plow the land. The 
consequence is that all the magnificent 
pines are felled, the oaks cut and the pal- 
mettoes grubbed. The roots are left in 
the ground and in a year or two yield a 
fine crop of oak runners, gopher apples, 
bamboo briers and other deep-rooted 
plants and the owner spends the balance 
of his gardening life blessing the man 
who did the work. 
Rather let the owner or some compe¬ 
tent overseer go over the ground and 
mark every tree and native plant that 
looks good to him, and have the rest of 
the ground deeply grubbed and every root 
taken out. He must remember that many 
an insignificant looking shrub will make 
a handsome bush under garden conditions. 
The scrubby bunch of palmetto will make 
a clump of palms that cannot be bought 
in any nursery and can never be re¬ 
planted. Do not let the common idea that 
nothing will grow near a pine tree, trouble 
you—you may not want pine trees in an 
orange grove, but you will notice that 
lots of other trees and shrubs grow near 
pine trees where they have protection 
from fire. 
Having left all the desirable wild 
plants in place let us see what we have 
available for our shade trees and street 
planting. First as a shade tree comes the 
Quercus nigra or water oak. This is 
found in almost any district in the state 
