' OP FORKED AND BRANCHED PALMS. 2S9 



are either solitary or caespitose. They appear sometimes in dense 

 clusters, arising from root-suckers around the parent stem, or 

 from underground shoots. A stem of this palm, brought by 

 Dr. Trail from near Manaos on the Rio Negro, Brazil (in the 

 Kew Museum), is forked. This was probably caused by the 

 growth of an axillary bud, as in Hyphane thebaica (fig. 3). 



Tribe PHOENICE.E. 



Phcenix dacttlifera, L. Date-Palm. 



The date-palm is a native of North Africa and South-western 

 Asia. It thrives in the driest regions. This is one of the few 

 species habitually throwing out shoots at the base also said to 

 be branched. Martius (Hist. Nat. Palm. i. tab. Z. 2) figures a 



specimen of P. dactylift 



midway 



between the base and summit. The size and position of this 

 branch are not, however, conclusive in favour of admitting the 

 date-palm amongst those with recognized branches. The only 

 other evidence is given by Brandis ( k Forest Flora,' p. 553), who 

 states that " branching stems are occasionally found in the Punjab." 

 Brandis is so reliable an authority, that the statement has weight. 

 On the other hand, the " date-palm " of the North-Western 

 Provinces and the Punjab is Phoenix sylvestris. Mr. Grote, F.L.S., 

 exhibited before the Society (Proceedings, 1872-73, p. vi) a 

 drawing of a branched P. dactylifera, but no particulars are 



given. 



Stewart *, referring to the records of branching in palms in 

 Northern India, states, " I quite agree with Edgeworth that they 

 merely result from seeds falling into and germinating in the axils 

 of the petioles.' , Brandis rightly regards this view "as im- 

 probable." The same point has been fully discussed and shown 

 to be quite untenable by Dr. Beaumont t. 



PfKENix sylvestris, Roxb. Khajoor or Wild Date. 



This forms extensive forests in some parts of India. It yields 

 a sweet juice (toddy) which is largely made into sugar (jaggery). 

 A deep notch is made into the trunk near the apex. The juice 



* ■ Punjab Plants/ p. 224. 



t Cited in ' Gardeners' Chronicle/ i. (1874), pp. 116-118, 



