FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
181 
Mr. Charles T. Simpson of Little 
River, near Miami, writes me under 
date of June 27, 1909.. as follows: 
“Elaeis Guineensis, nine feet high and 
12 feet across, is now in bloom, male 
flowers in one head, females in anoth¬ 
er, as large as a child’s head. It is said 
to bear lovely red fruits.” 
This is very important news, show¬ 
ing that this exquisite palm is hardy 
and can be grown in the southern part 
of our state. Further investigation 
may prove that it can possibly be 
grown much further north. 
Copernicia. This is a small genus of 
fan-leaved palms allied to the Thrin- 
axes, all natives of Southern Brazil and 
Paraguay. They need for their culture 
a rich, moist soil in the full sun. 
Corpernicia cerifera, Mart., the Car- 
anda of Brazil, and the Palma negra of 
Paraguay, is a fine fan-palm, growing 
30 to 45 feet high with a full crown of 
distinct leaves. This species, known 
also as the Wax Palm, is hardy in the 
Riviera and will undoubtedly prove a 
valuable garden palm for the orange- 
belt, if seeds are imported from its 
southernmost habitat, Paraguay. It 
abounds there in great numbers along 
the banks of the Pilcomayo River, and 
throughout the Gran Chaco. When 
young the stem is covered below with 
the bases of the petioles, but these fall 
off at maturity, leaving the trunk bare 
and smooth. Wood dense, hard and 
black, forming a valuable timber which 
is used all over Paraguay for rafters 
and fence posts. The leaves are cov¬ 
ered with a white waxy substance, 
which is scraped or shaken off, and 
made into the well-known carnawba- 
wax. “This species,” says Dr. Mo¬ 
rong, “is considered, with good reason, 
one of the most valuable trees in Para¬ 
guay. Not only does it furnish strong, 
durable timber and wax, but its ber¬ 
ries are eaten by the Indians, the ten¬ 
der vertex of the caudex makes an ad¬ 
mirable cabbage and its leaves are em¬ 
ployed for various purposes, such as 
thatching, making fans, strawbraid, 
thread, fishing lines, cordage and the 
like.” 
I am not aware that this species is 
in cultivation in Florida at present, and 
the only specimen I ever saw grew in 
my own garden for about ten years. 
It was an exceedingly slow grower on 
high pine land, but would undoubtedly 
have grown much faster in rich, moist 
soil. To such a position I removed it 
in April—just at a time when the dry 
season held full sway—but I lost it. 
Dr. Morong describes two new and 
entirely distinct species from the same 
region— Capcrnicia alba , Morong and 
C. rubra , Morong. Both are beautiful 
and both will very likely do well in 
South Florida. The first one is a rath¬ 
er low palm, frequently not over 10 
feet high and seldom reaching a height 
of 30 feet. The crown is much larger 
than in C. cerifera, containing many 
more leaves. The wood is nearlv 
worthless. In C rubra the trunk is 
clothed nearly to the top with the old 
leaf-stalks, never smooth as in C. cer¬ 
ifera, and always much thicker. The 
leaf-crown is large and round and Aery 
beautiful. For ornamental purposes 
these two new species will be great ac¬ 
quisitions to our gardens and should be 
introduced. 
