FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
173 
high and six feet in diameter can rare¬ 
ly be bought for less than $150 each. 
These beautiful palms are not easily 
obtainable, even in a small state, and 
lovers of palms should be on the look¬ 
out for them. Thousands are annual¬ 
ly imported from Japan, but the de¬ 
mand is always larger than the sup¬ 
ply. Propagation is effected by sever¬ 
ing side-shoots from the mother plants 
and potting them separately. This is 
a very slow process and it explains 
why these charming dwarf palms are 
more expensive than most others. 
Seeds are rarely produced and are rare¬ 
ly offered. 
Rhapis flabelliformis, L’Herit., com¬ 
mon Bamboo Palm, Ground Rattan 
Cane, from China and Japan where it is 
much grown. The most common spe¬ 
cies of all the Bamboo Palms, growing 
in large, dense tufts 7 to 8 feet high in 
moist, rich soil and in shade. Large, 
well-grown specimens are marvels of 
beauty. Shade, very rich soil and mois¬ 
ture are necessary for its well-being. It 
will not grow in the sun or in dry, high 
soils, but it is a most beautiful plant for 
shady nooks and corners near the house 
where it can have plenty of room to de¬ 
velop its charms. Full-grown stems are 
about as thick as a thumb and are cover¬ 
ed with the old leaf-sheaths. 
Rhapis humilis , Blum, from China and 
very likely also from Southern Japan, 
where it is much grown on account of its 
delicate beauty and density of form. It 
is smaller in all its parts, rarely growing 
more than 3 or 4 feet high, but in gener¬ 
al aspect it is similar to the former. 
Rhapis Cochinchinensis, Mart., from 
Cochin China. This species I have never 
been able to obtain. It is said to be the 
largest and most imposing of the genus, 
growing 8 to 10 feet high, and some au¬ 
thors say that it even attains a height of 
12 feet or more. There is a magnifi¬ 
cent clump of a Rhapis species in the 
grand collection of Horticultural Hall, 
Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, which I 
have always thought to be this species. 
It is at least 12 feet high and consists of 
a dense mass of perfect stems. It stands 
in the foreground and there are some 
tall plume-leaved palms, araucarias and 
rubber trees in the background—a very 
impressive combination. There are only 
a few gardens in Florida where these 
fine, small palms are grown. They de¬ 
serve a growing interest and many 
friends. 
Erythea, one of the Hesperides, Daugh¬ 
ter of Evening, is the poetical name given 
to a distinct genus of beautiful Western 
American Fan Palms by Sereno Watson. 
They are spineless, of robust growth and 
would be perfectly hardy all over our 
State if soil and climatic conditions 
would be to their taste. They like a 
rather heavy soil and a long, dry season. 
In Italy and the Riviera and in Califor¬ 
nia they belong to the grandest of all 
palms. Many years ago, I sent a large 
number of seedlings to my place in 
Orange County. They were set out on 
high, dry pine land and all pined away. 
A few years later I sent a few larger 
ones, but they also succumbed to our 
hot dry soil. Mr. George Abbott has a 
fine, healthy young specimen in his gar¬ 
den at Orlando, and I have been informed 
that there are a few others in various 
parts of the State. These palms are so 
charmingly beautiful and so distinct that 
