Howea
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Describe the plant here...
| Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture |
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Howea (named for Lord Howe's Island, where these 2 species grow). Also written Howeia. Palmaceae, tribe Areceae. Erect spineless palms known to the trade as kentias, and certainly ranking among the six most popular palms for house culture. Caudex stout, ringed: lvs. terminal, numerous, dense, equally pinnatisect; segms. narrow, acuminate: spadices 2-3 ft. long, solitary or 3-5 from 1 spathe, thick, cylindrical, nodding or pendulous; peduncle long, compressed at the base; spathe solitary, as long as the spadix, cylindrical, 2-keeled toward the apex, longitudinally split: bracts bordering the channels; bractlets scaly: fls. sunk in the deep furrows of the spadix, the staminate nearly an inch long: fr. 1 ½ in. long, olive-shaped. They have the habit of Kentia, but their flowers differ widely. Howea belongs to a subtribe in which the flowers in each spadix are attached to the stem between the bases of opposite leaves, while Kentia belongs to another subtribe in which the flowers are attached at a lower point. Also Howea has symmetrical staminate flowers with rotund sepals, while in Kentia the staminate flowers are not symmetrical, the sepals being small and acute. Howea's nearest cultivated ally is Linospadix, from which it is distinguished by the following characters: staminate flowers with very numerous stamens, the anthers erect and fastened at the base; pistillate flowers with no staminodes; ovule erect. H. belmoreana is the more popular and, as a house plant may be readily told from H. farsteriana by the more ascending position of its leaf-segments, as in Fig. 1921; the leaves of H. farsleriana arc more flat or the sides pendent. The two species of this genus are beyond a doubt the most popular and also the most satisfactory palms in the trade for decorative work in general, and in consequence of the great and growing demand are grown by tens of thousands in the large nurseries. There does not seem to be any record of either of these species having borne fruit in cultivation in this country, and the trade, therefore, depends on imported seeds, which are gathered in immense quantities on Lord Howe's Island, usually shipped from thence to Sydney, New South Wales, and from the latter port to either London or New York. This long voyage is a severe test of the vitality of such seeds, and frequently results in faulty germination, the average of germination seldom exceeding 50 per cent, and is often much less. Two heavy shipments of Howea seeds are made each year, the first installment arriving in February or March, and the second in September or October. Many growers favor the autumn shipment of these seeds as giving the best results. The seeds should be sown at once on their arrival, the practice followed by large growers being that of broadcasting the seeds on a side-bench in a warm greenhouse on 2 to 3 inches of light soil, then covering them with 1 inch of the same compost, watering liberally and keeping up a bottom heat of about 80°. Under such treatment some of the seeds may germinate in two months, but others in the same lot may not start for eight or nine months, from which it will be seen that the operation extends over a considerable period of time. The seedlings should be potted into small pots when the first leaf is expanded, kept moist and given a night temperature of 65°, the greenhouse in which they are placed being moderately shaded. In three to four months the young plants should be ready for shifting into 3-inch pots if properly cared for; from this time forward they do not require a higher night temperature than 60°. The howeas are not very particular in regard to soil, a rich, light loam answering very well for them, but a very stiff soil may be improved by the addition of one-fourth part of peat, and in all cases a reasonable proportion of fertilizers may be used to advantage. Scale insects are the most troublesome the grower has to contend with, and should be removed as rapidly as possible, else the foliage will be permanently disfigured. Of the two species referred to, H. belmoreana is perhaps the greater favorite, being more compact in growth and extremely graceful in foliage, a plant of this species of a given age usually carrying a greater number of leaves than one of H. forsteriana of the same age, and the leaves having more leaflets than those of the latter species. The seeds of the two species are very similar in appearance, though those of H. belmoreana frequently average a larger size, and while those of the last-named species require about three years to mature on the tree, the seeds of H. forsteriana ripen in about twelve months. For house culture by amateurs, see Palms. (W. H. Taplin.)
The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text. |
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References
- Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
