FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
167 
Seaside Plum, False Sandalwood and 
Wild Olive, makes a small tree with an 
acid fruit that is quite generally preserved 
by the natives of the State. 
Several Palm trees furnish excellent 
fruit and at the head of this class stands 
the Cocoanut palm. Other members of 
Cocos that have edible fruit are “Austral¬ 
is,” “Alphonsei,” “bonnetti,” “campes- 
tris,” “eriospatha,” “romanzofia” and 
“Yatai” 
The Phoenix Palms furnish the Date 
of commerce and the varieties “humilis” 
and “farinifera” also have an edible fruit. 
Bactris Gasipaes or the Peach Palm has 
a fruit with a delicious pulp. 
ORNAMENTAL PLANTING 
Mrs. P. H. Rolfs 
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
The subject of ornamental planting has 
been a great favorite with the Florida 
State Horticultural Society. It has a 
place in the hearts of Florida Horticul¬ 
turists next to the citrus fruits. In look¬ 
ing over the old reports we find that al¬ 
most from the first some one in the so¬ 
ciety has had something to say on this 
subject; even in those dark days of 1896 
it had a favored place on the program. 
It is true that frequently the members of 
the Committee have found it more con¬ 
venient to remain away than to prepare 
a paper. 
With all that has been said on this sub¬ 
ject it is far from exhausted. I am in¬ 
clined to predict that we are just begin¬ 
ning an era of a very generous and elab¬ 
orate ornamentation in Florida. Some 
of the wealthiest estates are planting many 
thousands of dollars worth of plants, and 
hiring the most expert of landscape arch¬ 
itects to lay out their ground. This is 
then further subsidized by hiring a corps 
of experienced gardeners. The result, as 
may be predicted, is a dream of beauty. 
The Citrus growers of Florida are not 
all millionaires, consequently there is a 
considerable percentage of them to whom 
I can speak today. The millionaire does 
not need my message, he can pay for spe¬ 
cialists on the subject, however the pleas¬ 
ure and enjoyment that he gets out of his 
dream of beauty cannot be considered in 
the same class with the enjoyment that 
the average citrus grower, and the aver¬ 
age horticulturist, get out of the results 
of his own enterprise and struggles. 
In a paper before this society in 1896, 
I discussed the use of Sweet Allyssum, 
of Alternathera, of Cosmos and of Sola¬ 
tium wendlandii. These are plants that 
every one can have at his home place. 
The first three are especially adapted for 
border purposes, and the last for the 
covering of trellises or arbors. 
In 1905, I discussed the Angolonia, 
which has nearly disappeared from the 
lists of useful herbaceous plants, the Hi¬ 
biscus which has become a great favorite 
in nearly all parts of Peninsular Flor¬ 
ida. The George Washington Palm, 
which has proved a splendid ornament in 
