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FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Tall growing and fast growing species, 
they soon assume magnificent propor¬ 
tions. No other palms are used so 
much in pot and tub culture in Florida 
as are the Seaforthias, and they are en¬ 
tirely free of the fungus disease which 
makes the cultivation of the Howeas 
well-nigh impossible in our state. They 
need rich, moist soil and shady posi¬ 
tions. 
Ptychosperma C mining hami, Wendl., 
the real Seaforthia elegans, the Austra¬ 
lian Feather Palm, is perhaps more 
grown for ornamental purposes in 
Florida than any other palm—mostly 
in tubs. It is a native of East Austra¬ 
lia, as far south as Illawarra, thus being 
one of the most Southern of all palms. 
The beauty and grandeur of tall spe¬ 
cimens is indescribable. The experi¬ 
ments with exotic palms are still in 
their infancy in our state and, for this 
reason, specimen plants of Seaforthia 
elegans are very rare in the open air 
It is believed that it will not grow in 
Central Florida. There is a fine, tall 
specimen at Bradentown, south of the 
Manatee River. The Manatee at this 
point is about a mile broad and affords 
X 
excellent water protection for a host of 
tropical plants. Mr. Reasoner has 
hundreds of most beautiful plants of 
this species—all pot-grown—in his 
nursery at Oneco, many of them hav¬ 
ing stems six to ten feet high. He in¬ 
formed me that it is not quite hardy at 
Oneco, about six miles south of Bra¬ 
dentown. 
Ptychosperma Alexandrae, Ferd. 
von Muller, the Alexandra palm of 
Queensland, the tallest of the Austra¬ 
lian palms, and one of the noblest 
forms in the whole plant world. It 
attains to a height of ioo feet “and is 
likely destined to grace many shady, 
moist groves yet outside the tropics, 
so long as they are free from frost, as 
this palm seems less tender than most 
others.” This is undoubtedly a gem 
for such places as Palm Beach, Miami 
and other places in extreme South 
Florida. 
Elaeis. This genus of tropical, 
feathery palms is entirely thornless. It 
consists of about six or seven species, 
one from Western Africa, and the rest 
from tropical America. 
Elaeis Guineensis, Jacq., the Oil Palm 
of Western Africa, one of the most use¬ 
ful of all plants, has been ascertained 
to be hardy in South Florida, where it 
has withstood several degrees of cold 
unharmed. It does not attain any 
great height, not more than 20 or 30 
feet. The trunks are thick and are 
covered with the remains of the stalks 
of the dead leaves. Below the large 
tuft of prickly-stalked leaves are to be 
seen the dense heads of vermilion or 
yellowish fruits. The palm oil is ob¬ 
tained from the outer fleshy coating— 
not from the kernels—of the fruit, by 
boiling in water and skimming off the 
oil. It is of bright orange-red color, 
with the consistence of butter, and 
when quite fresh has a pleasant odor 
like violets. It is used in the man¬ 
ufacture of soap and candles and is 
exported in immense quantities. The 
very elegant, rather upright or slightly 
recurved, deep green leaves are 10 to 
15 feet long. In all its stages the Oil 
Palm is one of the most ornamental 
and lovely. 
