172 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
and well-grown specimen is a very 
charming and refined object. It is very 
seldom seen in our gardens and should 
be largely planted. Baron Ferdinand 
von Muller, the great Australian bot¬ 
anist, described a number of other Au¬ 
stralian Fan Palms, which appear to 
be closely allied to this species. 
Livistonia Hoogendorpii, Hort ., from 
Java, a very striking and grand palm 
from Java, perfectly hardy at Federal 
Point. A large and broad specimen 
which stood the large freeze of 1895 al¬ 
most unharmed was the pride of Mr. 
Hart. It occasionally loses its leaves, 
but these are soon replaced by new 
ones. The leaves are four to six feet 
in diameter and their stems, being of a 
very conspicuous reddish-brown color, 
are three to five feet long and armed 
with stout spines. Shade and rich, 
moist soil is the secret of the culture of 
all Livistonias. 
Livistonia humilis R. Br ., another 
Australian Fan Palm, said to be identi¬ 
cal with Baron F. von Muller’s L. Ma- 
riae, has stems four to twelve feet tall 
and large fan-shaped leaves about three 
feet in diameter. It grows abundantly 
in North Australia and will undoubt¬ 
edly prove hardy in the orange belt. 
Livistonia rotundifolia, Mari. (Cham 
aerops Biro, Sieb.), one of the most 
popular pot palms from Java, is not 
quite as hardy as L. Hoogendorp II, 
but, if well protected when young, I 
believe it will be able to stand sharp 
freezes when it has attained a good 
size. There is no doubt that it will be 
one of the best garden palms for South 
Florida. I had planted out all these 
species, and also L. olivaefornfis. Mart. 
in my plant shed. They grew vigor¬ 
ously in the rich, moist soil in half¬ 
sheds, came through a number of win¬ 
ters unharmed, but were finally de¬ 
stroyed by the rise of the lake during 
my absence. Not the cold, but the 
water killed them. 
All the members of the genus Rha- 
pis are well adapted to our soil and 
climate, thriving admirably in rich, 
moist land and shade. There are five 
distinct species known to science all 
coming from Southern Japan and Chi¬ 
na where they are grown since time 
immemorial as decorative plants. As 
they are small and of an elegance and 
beauty distinctly their own, the Jap¬ 
anese plant them largely around their 
homes in company with Cycas revo- 
luta, Camellia Japonica and bamboos. 
They are among the few palms pro¬ 
ducing suckers at the base, thereby 
forming very beautiful, large clumps 
often 50 to 60 stems being counted on 
one plant. No other palms are so well 
adapted to ornamental plant-sheds as 
the Rhapis species. My specimens are 
growing together with ferns, fancy¬ 
leaved Caladiums, xanthosomas, colo- 
casias, alocasias, marantas, calatheas 
and similar shade-loving plants, and, 
among them, they form pictures of 
elegance and beauty. The leaves are 
small, much divided and fan-shaped. 
All the species will be hardy anywhere 
in Florida in sheds. Thev must be 
j 
handled with care as the leaf-stems 
are quite delicate and are easily brok¬ 
en. Good plants, about two-and-one- 
half to three feet high with two or 
three shoots, are usually sold at $5 
apiece, wholesale, while plants six feet 
