The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-05-14

shore. but 1t grows lnSurlan.,y n,ons hIe oesan
color. but along the. beach the green has Q
light blue tint 1t IL more Of a shrub
s salssnnnG 4 , where rs rs Growth i, fsns. like
t6s toots OF . Spanish bnyonet;, Men have
;;bbs ira ocsah Se dmnss , to set traps at bear wells 10
o.scuro, places. The stems OF the palms are
, sl%SSs l., ,1 aiGns tSe In eas sssS 81 a., Ssa tr hSs sls sh IKE
iihhrousS a donss Ticket q saw pal%sttos
III. IL SropoTtioa: bears feed upon them in
s sHne eat Mf them m" and 'ii brew beer from them. They
are oily and have q rancid flavor. Only O ma
h1 Th eat th ifSp palm found by Mr.. Smith was
ittEs swamp palmetto: tits much taller than
shorter. but the losiy stalk longer. In color il
Is liSe verdigris. and 1t is a tolerably hand
The last native palmetto seen was Chdmr:
,ops Kpsrir. or needle Ialm. 1t is ALSO termed
tho PorsmpinsI tp palm. Its stem IL short and
line. with numerous tooth idiivislons. on trIsn-
guinr .pstioles. with rough edges Tho spiaes
sharp rs needles. Thev are numerous. erect.
IGNITION Hf from ' Tie snw Sna tr rssdi,y w rHrss takes 's,
the plant, for the more common swamr, pal
metto. The needle rnlm grows in low shady
tive palms OF Florida. Mr., Smith eagerly
sought the seed. "a he said the palm was
highly priced In Europe.
Aside from these four natives. We found
many foreign palm. thriving In the Flor
idian climate. The 'botnnist was de-
lighted with the beautiful date palms fPhDnir
DdcipiyerdJ Of 81. Augustine. Three OF them
arc over q hundred years old. and . fourth 10
we'll along In It's second century. Several va
rieties OF this palm and several distinct spe-
clos wore found In the old city. Tho variety
Cdnariensis Gem cd to do well. 1t is n native
OF the Canary Islands,. and Ia one OF the best
for tub culture. There Is a specimen in the
garden Of the Ponce do Leon so singularly
beautiful that the eve never tires OF gazing
ut It 1t shades the fountain.
Other species OF date palms luxurlating In
tho soft mir OF the old spanish city were tho
Reclinata. the Spinosa. nad ono that looks like
q EdriniJtro. The first two are natives OF tho
Cape Of Good Hope. and the last 10 from
India. All were swinging their leaves In the
garden OF the Alcnzar.
Mr.. Smith learned that the sago palm fSpcds
Repoluta) In fast becoming acclimated In Flor
ida. II is found growing out not only In Jack
~sonville. st. Augustine. Sanford. and Tampa,
but 1t revels in little door yards all down tho
cast and west coast. There was q beautiful
sugo palm on the little place made memorable
by the murder OF the Packard family q year
ago last December. 1t has been transferred to
the yard OF the Ocean Hotel. New Smyrna.
whore It is universally admired. Tho leaves
OF the sage palm arc now used In largo quanti-
ties by florists for funeral decorations.
Another rare cycad was seen in the magnih-
cent garden owned by Mrs. Alexander Mitchell
near J jacksonville. Mrs. Mitchell is tho mother
Of United States Senator Mitchell. the success
sor OF Senator Sawyer OF Wisconsin. She has a
rare selection Of plants from every quarter Of
the globe. The cycad came from Malabar.
Botaaist smith expressed his satisfaction on
learning that 1t had survived the cold winter.
Hs snil tn It in, New Ireland the, natives use
the nuts Of such trees for food. II cultivated
the place OF the cabbage palmetto and pre-.
sotve many 2 fine tree.
grove Of bamboos in a surprisingly, thrifty con-
lition. Young ,bamboos were springing from
the ground by the middle Of April. They shoot
up Ike asparagus in q single night. Within
The g qSys III" is loneltudinai' only. the cane
e Ta a%srs pst fro@ IL. X ,S sroa"d. ' Ee saw saS ene ton
inches IN circumference and ten feet high; 1t
SastS S1,s q native i've q the East vi 'in III TRsss
s ssd Been o INJURED ssd q ~ ye tx s'f fss.S. sFTfSSt o stS Hes;
were yarIesated aud black bamboo; -.,,-
mn So shn9s c 81 tbi 20 Iams o ss Ksn2a' T Zoo! THAN Mn,
no vegetation beneath the trees. They shot
up twenty or thirty feet high. leafinR far
aoove our hends. Nor was tho grove for orns-
ment atone. Tho canes were utilized. They
were used In treliis work and in trainin g rustic
arches. A bamboo bridge spanned q little
stream in the garden. and rare beds of flowers
were fenced In BY them.
Mrs. Mitchell escorted. the botanlst over her
garden. extracting and giving Information.
greater love OF the beautiful In nature: GER
tainly none has spont 30 much money in its
qualification. Ono plant she highly priced for
It's exquisite odor. 1t Was the C!neraria. cul-
tivnted In every, conSeryatSry North: 1t was
air. despite the cold winter.