The Best House Palms

Although the number of palms cultivated is very large, very few

indeed--only about a dozen--will give satisfactory results in the house.

The fact that a palm will live--or rather, takes a very long time to

die--under abuse, has misled people into thinking that they do not need

as much care as other house plants. This is a mistake.



Palms may be considered in two classes, the fan-leaved and the

feather-leaved, or deeply cut, sorts. Of the former there are but three

sorts good for house culture.



Latania Borbonica, the Chinese Fan-leaved palm, is the best known. It

is one of the hardiest, standing a temperature as low as forty-five

degrees at night. It is broad in habit, and the large leaves are deeply

cut and drooping at the edge, making a very attractive plant.



Livistona rotundifolia, the Miniature Fan palm, is a more compact type

of the above; not only the leaves but the whole plant being round in

habit and growing quite dense. It is a beautiful lively green in color,

and making a neater plant, is in many ways more desirable for the house

than Latania Borbonica. It requires more warmth, however, and should

be kept up to 55 degrees at night if possible.



Chamaerops excelsa has the distinguished feature of forming shoots at

the base, thus having foliage where most palms are bare, and in old

specimens unattractively so. Its leaves are shaped like those of

Borbonica, but are smaller, and the leaf stalk in proportion is

longer. It is a good strong variety.