154 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
by the Singhalese. Nowhere it thrives 
far inland and rarely specimens are seen 
in our large conservatories. The aid of 
the sea water, crushed shells in the soil 
and the sea weeds acting as a fertilizer 
are needed to grow them successfully. 
The Singhalese have a saying that the 
“Cocoanut trees do not thrive unless you 
walk and talk amongst them,” which in¬ 
dicates that they must receive loving care 
in order to supply the wants of the peo¬ 
ple. 
Everywhere along our coast this mag- 
nificant palm should find a place in the 
gardens and parks and should be largely 
planted. 
Cocos Weddelliana Wendl is one of the 
most popular palms for home decora¬ 
tion in all civilized countries, its easy 
growth, small size, elegance and beauty 
adapt it particularly for this purpose. It 
is a native of Braizl where it rarely grows 
taller than 6 or 7 feet. The delicate, 
glossy, deep, green, feathery leaves form 
a perfect circle of elegance. It is a shade 
and moisture-loving plant, growing fine¬ 
ly in plant sheds. In such plant sheds, 
which should be added to every good gar¬ 
den in Florida, it can be easily protected 
from sun and cold. My specimens have 
not been injured by a temperature of 26 
degrees Fahrenheit, but they were cover¬ 
ed with pine needles and green pine 
branches. In Orlando a specimen has 
borne good crops of seeds for several 
years. This shed, in which asparagus 
plumosus is grown for the market, is 
heated by stoves during very cold weath¬ 
er. It also makes a fine veranda plant. 
Cocos plumosa, Hook , is one of the 
most elegant and beautiful of all palms, 
and it has the additional good quality of 
being a very fast grower. Its native 
home is central Brazil, where it usually 
grows in rich, moist soil. This is one of 
the most important palms for outdoor 
culture, being hardy as far north as Or¬ 
lando and Lake Charm. Mr. Mead, the 
introducer of many a garden jewel, was 
the first who grew this and other spe¬ 
cies of the genus. When the great freeze 
of 1895 occurred, his tall and imposing 
specimen was killed outright. There are 
fine young specimens at Mr. Dommer- 
ich's place, “Hiawatha,” at Maitland. In 
the idyllic grounds of the Tampa Bay 
Hotel I feasted my eyes on a long avenue 
of these palms which are about 50 feet 
high. They have magnificent crowns of 
leaves, and ripen annually large bunches 
of fruit. The tallest and most impres¬ 
sive specimens of this palm I saw in the 
grounds of Reasoner Bros, at Oneco, Fla. 
Lofty and graceful, their magnificent 
crowns of feathery leaves, touched by the 
soft breezes, appeared to be pictured from 
dreamland. And near them grew large 
specimens of Acrocomia Totai, tall and 
massive Phoenix Canariensis, P. sylves- 
tris, Ph. reclinata, and nearby the finest 
and densest coniferous tree I ever saw, 
Araucaria Bidwilli. Gigantic specimens 
of feathery bamboos stood in the back¬ 
ground, swaying their leaf-masses in the 
breezes. In and near Orlando this palm 
needs, during the first few years, some 
protection from very cold weather. It 
should be largely planted where there is 
a chance that it may prove hardy, because 
it is one of our noblest palms and has a 
beauty and elegance entirely its own. 
Cocos flexuosa, Mart , is another of the 
of the feathery soft-leaved species from 
Brazil and in its young state is scarcely 
