FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
165 
all been reduced to varieties of P. hu- 
milis by Beccari, though in a horticul¬ 
tural sense they prove distinct enough 
to deserve a place in all our gardens. 
They are all charming little palms and 
are particularly adapted to small gar¬ 
dens where the massive growing spe¬ 
cies cannot be grown. They are all 
hardy in South Florida and in rich soil 
soon form very graceful specimens. 
Phoenix aculis , Burch is a stemless 
Indian species, with leaves five to six 
feet long and upright. 
Phoenix glaxtca, Hort. I received 
the seed of this Date Palm from Haage 
& Schmidt, of Erfurt, Germany, about 
twelve years ago. It has formed a 
very slender stem seven feet high, with 
long, arching leaves of a glaucous 
color. Quite a number of strong suck¬ 
ers are found around the base. The 
flower-spathe is greenish-white and the 
flower-scape, sulphur-yellow. The 
small fruits, the size of a coffee-bean, 
are deep red. This is one of the most 
distinct and elegant of all my palms. 
Phoenix tomentosa , Hort , in my gar¬ 
den seems to be identical with Ph. 
farinifera. 
All the foregoing palms belong to the 
feathery or pinnate-leaved section. The 
members of the following two genera 
have all beautiful fan-shaped leaves. L 
shall first call the attention of my read¬ 
ers to the genus Sahal, the Cabbage 
Palmettos. The genus is strictly 
American. Our native Cabbage Pal¬ 
metto is fully described in a previous 
paper. 
Sahal Mexicana, Martins , Mexican 
Cabbage Palmetto, closely allied to 
our native species. It is found in ex¬ 
treme Southeastern Texas and in Mex¬ 
ico, where it forms a beautiful feature 
in the landscape, often growing to¬ 
gether in immense numbers. Up to a 
height of 15 to 25 feet, the bases of the 
old leaf-stalks remain on the trunk 
adding much to its picturesqueness,, 
precisely as in our Florida Cabbage 
Palmetto. As this species has been 
distributed for quite a number of 
years, all over the state, there must be 
large specimens in many gardens, 
though there is a possibility that they 
may be confounded with the native 
species. Both are, however, easily told 
apart. The Mexican Cabbage Palmet¬ 
to is more robust, has a broader and 
denser leaf-crown and grows much 
quicker. The entire aspect is quite dif¬ 
ferent. The trunk attains a height 
of 50 feet and is two feet in diameter. 
The leaf-blades are very large, some¬ 
times six feet long and seven feet wide, 
‘"divided to the middle in verv narrow 
j 
two-parted segments, which are fila¬ 
mentous near the margin.” It grows 
easily and should be found in all gar¬ 
dens where the beauty of palms is ap¬ 
preciated. 
Sahal Blackhurniana, Glazehrook, 
Bermuda Cabbage Palmetto. There is 
some confusion about this species. The 
seeds from which my specimens were 
grown came from Bermuda, the botan¬ 
ical authorities give the West Indies 
as its habitat. I call special attention 
to a very fine article on the subject in 
that fine publication of Prof. C. S. Sar¬ 
gent, “Garden and Forest” (Vol. IV., 
page 307), where a full description 
and an illustration is given. I have 
quite a number of specimens in my 
