2532

ARBORETUM AND FRUTJCETUM.

PART HI.

powerful inducement to the use of iron rods for supporting standard roses,dahlias, and similar plants, and it is very proper that such rods should bepainted to give them durability; but there is less excuse for employingiron rods, or rods of joiner’s work, for tying up small green-house plants, andsmall plants in the open border; and none, as we think, for painting eitherwooden or iron rods of a pea-green. The natural colour of the bark of youngtrees is, in our opinion, greatly preferable. In the present day, when it is soclearly proved that stakes and rods with the bark on can be rendered at leastof 6 or 7 years’ duration by the kyanising process, we should always recommendtheir use in preference to iron. We acknowledge, however, the value of thelatter material for espalier rails, some descriptions of trellis-work, sash-bars, &c.

C. serruldta Willd., Michx. FI. Bor. Amer., i. p. 206., Pursh FI. Amer.Sept., i. p. 239., grows on the coast of Georgia and Florida , and differs verylittle from the dwarf fan palm of Europe .

C. hystrix Pursh, 1. c., p. 240., has a creeping root, like the former, but differsin having the petioles of the leaves long, with prickles resembling porcupine’squills. Found near the town of Savannah , in Georgia .

C. Palmetto Willd., Pursh, 1. c., Michx. N. Amer. Syl., iii. I. t. 101.; C(5-rypha Palmetto Walt.; the Cabbage Tree, Amer. This is a tree with a trunkfrom 40 ft. to 50 ft. high, of a uniform diameter, and crowned with a regularand tufted head, composed of leaves of a brilliant green, palmated, and borneby petioles from 1 ft. 6 in. to 2 ft. long, nearly triangular and united at theedges. The leaves vary in length and breadth from 1 ft. to 5 ft., and are soarranged, that the smallest occupy the centre of the summit, and the largestthe circumference. Before their developement, they are folded like a fan; and,as they open, the outside sticks of this fan separate and fall, leaving the basesurrounded with filaments woven into a coarse and flimsy russet web. Thebase of the unclosed bundle of leaves is white, compact, and tender: it iseaten with oil and vinegar, and resembles the artichoke and the cabbage intaste ; whence the American name of the cabbage tree. The flowers are ofa greenish hue, and are produced in long clusters: they are succeeded byblack horny fruit, about the size of a pea. This tree is found on the sea coastof Carolina and Florida , where the wood is used for forming piles for buildingwharfs ; for which purpose it is preferred, though it is extremely porous, fromits power of resisting the attacks of the sea-worms, which, during summer,destroy most other kinds of wood placed in situations accessible to them.When subject to be alternately wet and dry, it decays as rapidly as any otherwood. In the war of independence, it was used for building forts, as, whena ball entered the wood, it immediately closed over it. (Mic/ix .) The leavesare manufactured into light and very durable hats. — As there are severaltrees and shrubs, natives of Carolina, Florida , and Georgia , which endurethe open air in England, it is at least worth while to try these three palms,which are, probably, as hardy as the Chamae'rops humilis.

Bambusa; the Bamboo . There are two kinds of bamboo in the Horti-cultural Society’s Garden, which have endured the open air for 10 or 12 years,without any protection whatever. One of these, B. nigra Lodd. Cat. , theblack bamboo, was, in 1837, 7 ft. high, with several stems varying in thicknessfrom Jin. to 1 in. Though a native of India , it appears nearly as hardyas the European reed. Another species, in the same garden, B. arun-diniicea, has stood out during the same period at the base of a wall withan eastern aspect, but has not grown so freely, probably owing to its being ina drier soil. In Jersey, there are several species and varieties in Saunders’sNursery, which stand out perfectly well without any protection.

Arundo Dbnax is a grass with woody stems, a native of the south ofEurope ; and on Mount fEtna supplying stakes for supporting the vine. Itsometimes grows 15 ft. high in one season, in the climate of London ; and makesa line appearance on the rocky margin of a pond.