19671 BARRY:HYBRIDS r21 Endemic to Cuba, where found on longer and stouter prickles, the upper calcareous soils in all the provinces margins fibrous and extending along according to Le6n, Flora d,e Cuba I: the petiole nearly to the first pinnae, 245. 1946. the free portion of the petiole about 45 cm. (18 in.) long with brown or yel- cRISpA(Humboldt, Bon- Glsrnococos lowish prickles, some very stoutI ra- E. Moore, lr. pland & Kunth) H. chis more than 2.5 m. (87/z ft.) long, noa. often with short yellowish prickles along Cocos crispa Humboldt, BonPland & the lower margin and on the lower sur- Kunth, Nova Genera et SPecies face near the junction with the petiole; Plantarum 1:302 f{olio 242]- pinnae to 120 or more on each side of 1816. the rachis, the lower onesshort, narrow, Acrocornia crispo (Humboldt, Bon- and closely placed, those in the center pland & Kunth) C. F. Baker ex to f m. (3r/2fi.) Iong, 3 cm. (1 3/16 Beccari, in Pomona College Jour' itt.) wide, the midnerve gr€en, the nal of Economic Botany 2: 364. lower surface pale. Inflorescenceto 1.5 I9T2. m. (5 ft.) long or more, the upper bract Gastrococosarrnentalis S. A. Morales, brown tomentosel peduncle about 7'5 in Repertorio Fisico-Natural de la dm. (.27/z ft.) long, densely brown Isla de Cuba I: 58. 1865. or yellowish prickly; rachis about as Acrocomia armentalis (S. A. Mora- long as peduncle,smooth or with prick' les) L. H. Bailey, Hortus Second les at base; rachillaeto 30 cm. (l ft.) 22. r94L long or more. Flowers Yellow to or' (II/32 Trunk to I8 m. (60 ft') high. Leaves ange,the staminate8-9 mm. in.) (3/32 in.) large: sheath and petiole 7.5 dm. (2t/2 long with calyx about 2 mm. ft.) long, the sheath densely covered high, the femalesabout the sameheight' with upward-pointing slender brown Fruit smooth, yellow to orange at ma' prickles of varying lengths to 3 cm. tirity, 2.5-2.75 cm. (I-tt7* in.) in di- (I 3/16 in.) long and occasionalmuch ameter. Hybrids in Chamaedorea D,q,vDBannv, Jn. near In June L923, the lournal d,e Ia So' nerial Garden o{ Schoenbrunn, ci6t6.Nationale d"Horticulture d'eFrance Vienna. The author adds that the voy' (ser. 4, 24: 223'2M, L923) ran an ager Warscewicz, and especially Lin- article on the cultivated Chamaed'orea den, the celebrated horticulturist of by Dr. M. A. Guillaumin of the Jardin Ghent, introduced the major Part o{ des Plantes, Paris. After describing the speciesin those early days. Many about fifty speciesthe author lists sev- were introduced between 1840 and eral hybrids. These are referred to as I89O. recent hybrids, meaning that they were The first hybrid was made bY a Rus' made after the turn o{ the century. They sian, F. Katzer, of Pavlosk, about 1899. would indeed be recent when com- It was described as Chamaedorea X pared to the dates given for the intro- Katzeri Loebner, in Gartenuteh13: 159. duction to horticulture of various spe' 1909. The parentswere C. concolor and cies of Chamaed,orea.The first species C. Ernesti-Augusti.The plant was suck' was introduced in 1794 to the Im- ering, the terminal leaves simple, like t22 PRINCIPES lVol. 1l those o{ the second parent. The leaves hybrids in Florida reachedme through that followed down the petiole were the investigativeeffort of our Secretary, pinnatisect in 3-5-7 segments. Lucita H. Wait. It seemsthat the one A second hybrid, Chamaedorea X known instance of hybridization is ac- ronlana, was named by Guillaumin and cidental, and a little uncertain, and had C. Ernesti-Augu.sdand C. Schie- took place, or perhaps takes place each deana as parents. It was published in year, in a planting of Chamaedoreain Bullettino della R. Societd Toscana d,i Fairchild Tropical Garden in South Orticuhura 35t 207, I9L0, and Kew Miami. In a grouping of severalspecies Bulletin, l9ll: Appendix III, 93. I9I1. oI Cham,aed,oreapalms the plants of C. This hybrid had a single trunk and Seilrizii are on the lee side of palms of much of the general appearanceof C. C. erumpens. Plants grown from seeds X Katzeri. It was Italian in origin and formed on plants of. C. Seilrizli were at was being grown in the botanical gar- first assumedto be of that species.How- den in Rome in 1910. ever, they varied so much in appear- ance from the plants oI C. Seilrizii that Two other hybrids were made about they are now assumedto be crossesbe- this date and were growing at Kew, tween it and C. erutnpens,They present according to Guillaumin. They are C. a completerange in appearancebetween X lteuensis lC. Wend,landiana Y. C. Lin- the two species.The confusion increases d,eninna) and the unnamed cross C. when it is consideredthat pollen of C. corallina X C. glaucifolia. Descriptions erumpens,at least under California con- are in the Kew Hand List ol Tend,er ditions, is the sticky type and is never Monocotyled,ons, 2nd, edition, pp. 84 freed to float in the air from plant and 85. to plant. Perhaps an insect has been The destruction to greenhouses in a party to this apparent example of Europe by World Wars I and II seems hybridization in Florida. to have ended there any activity in .With hybridizing in Chamaed,orea.An Amer' about I00 species in the genus ican cross between C. costaricana and. the opportunities for producing hybrids C. Schippii has been made by one of are endless. I strongly favor hybridiza- our society members. Irving Cantor of tion that aims at improving on nature, Los Angelesreports that in 1960 he put and not that done merely for the pur- some C. costaricanapollen on C. Schip- pose of creating a hybrid. For example, pii flowers and set one dozenseeds from if the characteristic of branching that which nine plants were grown. In 1962 is found in C. elatior var. bambusoid,es he made the cross and harvested 30 could be bred into some of the single- seeds.Again, in 1965, he harvested 50 trunked species,such as C. corallina, a new, living, art form would be found. seeds.This hybrid has created a very "metallic" attractive palm. It is midway in size Or, if the coloring in the betweenthe two parents, seemsto have leavesof C. metallica could be made to prevail the {rost tolerance oI C. costaricana, in C. brachypoda, while keep- and has restricted the tendency of C. ing the multiple-trunk character of the last, Schtppi to run. It seems tolerant to a most useful horticultural subject morning sun, a characteristiepicked up would be the reward. from the last parent, has great vigor, Becauseof the wide variety of vege- and is an improvement over either tative characieristics within the genus, parent. as now known, it is reasonably evident The only information at' hand of that all specieswould not be compatible 19671 osBoRNE: LorusLAND 123 with one another in crossing. On the falling pollen will find its way to the other hand, it is evident that some spe' open flowers. cies should be compatible because of This method can not be used with the general similarity of the shape and specieslike C. elegans that have glutin' style of the spadicesin both sexes,such ous pollen that will not be shed by the as those oL C. rnetallica and C. Ernesti' flowers. In such cases,remove one cor- Augusti. I assumethat this cross could olla at a time from the spadix branch' be made, and I recommend it as the hold it betweentwo fingers, and pluck kind of hybrid that should produce away the thick petals with tweezers. a significant and interesting result. Put the stripped flowers in a small, In handling the Pollen oL Chamae' open dish for two or three hours to air- ilorea, plastic bags, or Baggies, are very dry. Then the Pollen maY readilY be useful. When the male flowers are ready picked up by the bristles of a camel's to shed pollen and will do so when the hair brush by stirring the flowers with spadix is tapped, enclosethe spadix in it. The pollen will show as white powder the bag vigor' the bag, tap and shake on the brush with which the stickY ously, and the inside of the bag will female flowers may be touched, one by be whitened with pollen. When the fe- one. This is tedious, but it is effective, mdle flowers are sticky, envelop the and will make up for the absenceof an entire female spadix in the bag, taP and shake the bag, and the flYing or insect. GARDENTOUR The Palms at Lotusland Esfate of Madame Ganna Walska The area of Santa Barbara, Califor- nia, lying at 34 degrees, 25 minutes North Latitude, enjoys a milder climate than one might expect. The principal reasons for this pleasant situation ap- pear to be two: the close Presenceof the Pacific to the south (sic; consult your atlas) and the fact that immediate- ly to the north of the city is a mountain range which, contrary to the custom of most red-bloodedAmerican ranges,runs east-westrather than north-south. The beneficial e{fect of these rocky slopes, which rise to three or four thousand feet, is often to shut out cold winds from the north, and to absorb and re-radiate heat ftom the low winter sun. January and August o{ficial average high and low temperaturesare given as 64.8",40.3oand ?8.1o,56.7oF.