Oreodoxa
(from oreos, a mountain, and doxa, glory; referring to the lofty stature of some of the species). ORD. Palmeae. A small genus (five species have been described) of elegant, unarmed, stove, tropical American palms, with slender, ringed stems, bearing large, terminal leaves, with long, sheathing stalks, forming a cylinder around the summit. Flowers white, small, monoecious, the spikes inclosed in double, somewhat woody spathes. Fruit ovoid or oblong-ovoid. Leaves equally pinnatisect; segments narrow, linear-lanceolate, narrowed at apex, unequally bifid, pinnate. The species thrive best in a compost of loam, with a little peat and sand. They are admirably adapted for growing in subtropical gardens, where some shelter from winds will be needed, and also for decorating apartments. For general culture, see Phoenix.
O. granatensis (New Grenadan). l. pinnate, with long, narrow segments, which are more or less drooping. Stem smooth. Columbia, 1879. An elegant species, admirably adapted, when in a young state, for table decoration.
O. oleracea. Cabbage Palm. l. pinnate, 4ft. to 6ft. long, grace-fully arched; segments 1ft. to 2ft. long, bright dark green. Stem slender, swollen at the base, freckled with blackish-brown. h. 100ft. West Indies, 1844.
O. regia (royal).* l. pinnate, 3ft. to 6ft. long, the segments 6in. to 12in. in length, and nearly 1in. broad, bright green. Cuba, 1836. A very graceful, slender-growing species.
O. Sancona (Sancona). An easily cultivated and handsome species, with the leafstalks a reddish-bronze when young. It is used, on the Continent, like Cocos and Chamaedoreas, for the decoration of apartments. Tropical America.
O. ventricosa (ventricose). A synonym of Gaussia Ghiesbreghtii.