Club Palm

Club Palm (Cordyline) - Fine-leaved shrub plants common in green-houses, but only in the mildest parts of England and Ireland can they be grown well in the open air. In the Isle of Wight, and from thence along the shores of Devonshire and Cornwall to the Scilly Isles, they succeed well, forming a fine feature even in cottage gardens, whilst in some larger gardens whole avenues are planted. But, in far less favoured places, it is often seen thriving for years in the open air, though it is not worth trying in cold, high, and inland places, especially on clay soils.

The true C. indivisa is distinct, and a large number of plants have at different times been in cultivation; owing, however, to their being treated as tropical plants, they usually proved short-lived. One of the finest specimens in the country is in Mr Rashleighs garden at Menabilly, Cornwall. C. i. lineata is a fine variety, with leaves much broader than those of the type, and sometimes 4 inches across, colored with reddish-pink at the sheathing base. There are many forms. At Knockmaroon Lodge, near Dublin, a plant, 16 feet high, with a stem some 6 inches in diameter, annually flowered and bore an abundance of seeds, from which seedlings were easily raised in a cold frame. In the Scilly Islands the plant becomes a great tree, in the warmth and moisture from the Gulf Stream. The fact that in Dublin young plants annually flower and ripen seed is sufficient proof of its hardiness and of its prospects of success in many districts. It is readily increased also from pieces of the stem and offsets. If a plant is cut down close to the ground, there soon spring up a number of young shoots, which can be taken off as cuttings, and which strike with freedom. Recent severe winters may have hurt it in many places; but after so many years success no one in a likely district will give up its culture.—B.

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Cordyline Erythrorachis

Cordyline Erythrorachis - A distinct and beautiful plant, hardy only in the warmest parts of Britain, and then only when of a certain age. It does not form a main stem like most of the Dracaena family, but remains as a bold spreading tuft, which sends up graceful arching spikes of ivory-white flowers every year from near the ground to a height of 4 to 6 feet. The leaves are very stout, about 4 feet long and 3 inches wide, with dark edges and tapering rapidly; towards the base they become deeply channelled, with the edges rolled inwards until they almost meet as a tube. The plant seeds freely, the seed-vessels being white at first and then blue. It grows freely from seed, but the young plants should be wintered under glass until three or four years old. Botanically it is classed as a form of C. Banksii, but for garden purposes it is quite distinct. N. Australia.

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