110 
ON THE BRANCHING OF PALM STEMS.—SIMPLE MODE OF GROWING AURICULAS. 
a) low-like, and tlie flowers are pale yellow. It is a Peruvian species, and has been obtained by Messrs. Veitch, of ^ 
Exeter. 
Sophronitis pterocarpa, Lindley. Wing-fruited Sophronite.—Order Orcbidacese (Orchid tribe).—A very 
pretty, though diminutive, stove epiphyte, with roundish oblong leaves, and short corymbose racemes of rosy 
purple flowers. It is a native of Brazil. 
Stenocarpus Forsteri, R. Brown. Forster’s Stenocarp.—Order Proteacese (Protead tribe).—A greenhouse 
shrub, with obovate retuse evergreen leaves, and umbels of small, apparently white flowers, of little beauty. It 
was sent to the Horticultural Society, from New Caledonia, by Mr. C. Moore. 
Callicarpa japonica, Thunbery. Japanese Callicarp.—Order Yerbenaceae (Yerbene tribe).—A soft-wooded 
shrub, growing two to three feet high, with oblong tapering or sometimes rhomboidal leaves, and dense axillary 
racemes of small pinkish flowers of little beauty. Introduced from Japan by Dr. Yon Siebold, and blossoms in 
August and September. 
Cassinia leptophylla, R. Brown. Slender-leaved Cassinia.—Order Asteracese (Composite plants).—A neat 
growing evergreen shrub from New Zealand, said to be hardy. It forms a compact dwarf bush, with heath-like 
whitish leaves, and the branches terminate in little corymbs of white flowers. 
ON THE BRANCHING OE PALM STEMS.* 
T HE branches of Palms are either subterraneous or arise, like the ordinary branches of Dicotyledons, 
above ground. Those Palms which produce subterraneous branches have a rhizome, or under¬ 
ground stem, produced from a horizontal branch of the parent stem; this sometimes turns up after 
running a certain distance, and comes above the ground; in such cases it gives off another branch at 
its base, which continues the horizontal growth (just like the growth of the rhizome of Iris ); this is 
the mode in which the rhizome of the Calamus Draco of gardens is formed. 
Branches spring from the axils of the scale-like leaves which clothe the rhizome, and if the latter 
are crowded the branches break through them. The branches either remain short, forming what is 
called a turio, or stretch out and form runners. MetroxyIon Rumphii has very long ones, but in 
Chamcedorea elatior they attain a length of four feet. In this plant these runners often arise from the 
base of the stem above ground, and dip down into it, rising out of it again at a distance of several feet 
to form a new stem. The underground parts are clothed with whitish or brownish scale-like leaves, 
which soon decay. 
The branches occasionally given off above ground by Palms mostly arise low down, close to the 
roots, rarely from the axils of green or decaying leaves higher up on the trunk, and more frequently 
in young than in old stems. They occur oftenest in Caryota sobolifera, Diplothemium maritimum , 
Phoenix dactylij'era, and Chamcedorea elatior; while the allied Caryota urens , Diplothemium caudescens, 
Phoenix sylvestris, and Chamcedorea Scliiedeana produce no branches. Phoenix dactylifera (the Date 
Palm) is propagated exclusively by these lateral shoots, and never by seeds, because the trees raised 
from seed are said to yield less fruit; while, on the contrary, the plants of Borassus Jlabe 11 if or m is , 
raised from the stolons, bear smaller fruit. Areca alba , a native of the Mascarenhas, often divides 
into from two to ten branches, springing apparently from lateral buds ; these branches grow perpen¬ 
dicularly upwards like the main stem, which then does not grow to the usual diameter; they bear 
flowers and fruit. 
None of these ramifications seem to follow any definite rule, but to result from accidental favour¬ 
able circumstances, excepting in the African genus Dyphcene (the Dourn Palm of Egypt), where the 
trunk sends out a branch from time to time near the summit, the branch repeating this ramification, 
so that old trunks appear many times forked.—A. H. 
-- ♦ - 
A SIMPLE MODE OE GROWING AURICULAS. 
J 
B CORRESPONDENT has sent the following account of the mode of treating Auriculas, by which, 
AA leaving out of view the nice points which a florist professes to realize, vigorous health is secured, 
and this somewhat fickle flower may be converted into a lovely spring ornament. For this purpose, 
* From Martins's History of Palms. 
