P A 



downward, and between thefepinnse hang down fcng 

 threads. The Rowers and fruit come out from be- 

 tween the leaves ; the fruit is of the fhape and fize of 



The leaves of this tree are 



the fmall Lucca Olives. 



Weft 



The eighth fort grows naturally in Japan, and alio 

 upon rocky dry mountains at Malabar. This in 

 time rifcs with a ftrait trunk about forty feet high, 

 which has many circles round it the whole length, 

 which are occafio.ned by tlie veftigia of the leaves, 

 which are placed circularly round the ftem ; fo as 

 thefe feparate entirely and fall off, the circles remain 

 where their bafe embraced the ftalk. The ftalks are 

 terminated by an obtufe cone, juft below which the 

 leaves are placed •, thefe on the large trees are eight 

 or nine feet long, but thofe of the fmall plants are 

 much lefs ; the largeft I have feen were not more than 

 two feet long. The bafe of the foot-ftalk, which 

 partly embraces the trunk, is broad and three-corner- 

 ed, and is armed on each fide with fhortfpines to the 

 place where the lobes, or fmall leaves, begin. Thefe 



{)inn^ or lobes, are long, narrow, and entire, of a 

 ucid green on their upper fide, ftanding by pairs op- 



A 



red powder, 'very like the eaRern Dragon^ Blood, ani 

 IS frequently uled inftead of it in ihe ihops; but the 

 tree, trom whence the trv.c Dragons Blood h taken 

 is of a very difierenc gc-nu;i from this. Dr. Van 

 Royen ,in the Prodromus of tlie Leyden Garden, has 

 ranged this among the Yuccas, I fuppole, from the 

 fimiluude of the plant to thole of that genus ; for 

 as the fruit of this is a berry not unlike thole of the 

 Bay-tree, atid the feeds of "the Yucca grow in cjp- 

 fules with three cells, they cannot be of the fimeo^. 

 nus ; nor have .we any good account of the real cha- 

 raders of this plant, lo as abiblutely to determine 

 the genus. Dr. Linnsus has, upon the information 

 of Tiis pupil Locfiing, ranged it in his genus ofAf. 

 paragus, to which it feems to have little afl^nity- 

 therefore, as it has by fevcral modern authorr. ba^u 

 ranged under this title, I have continued it diere. 

 This rifes with a thick trunk nearly equal m fize the 

 whole length, the inner part of which is pithy ; next 

 to this is a circle of ftrong fibres, and the ouifide is 

 foft. The ftalk or trunk rifes tv/elve or fourteen feet 

 high, and is nearly of the fame diameter the whole 

 length, which is rarely more than eight or ten inches; 

 there are the circular marks or rings left the whole 

 length, where the leaves are fallen off; for as thefe 

 half embrace the ftalk with their bafe, fo when thev 



pofite along the midrib, very clofe together.. The 

 flowers and fruit are produced in large bunches at the 



foot-ftalks of the leaves ; the fruit is oval, about the 



fize of a large Plum, and nearly of the fame fiiape -, f^ll away, the veftigia where they grew remain. Th. 



thefkin, or covering, changes firft yellow, and af- j top of the ftalk fuftains a large head of leaves, which 

 terward red when ripe, of a fweet tafte, under which 

 is a hard brown fhell, inclofing a white nut, which is 

 in tafte like the Cheftnut. 



From the pith of the trunk of this tree is made the 



' d, then it is made into a 



come out fingly all round it ; they are fliaped like 



of 



fago ; this is firft pulveri 

 pafte, and afterward granulated. 

 The ninth fort was difcovered by the late Dr. Houf- 

 tounj growing naturally in the fands near Old Vera 

 Cruz in America. This hath a thick ftem, which 

 feldom rifes more than two feet high. The leaves 

 come out round the upper part of the ftem, ftanding 

 upon fbot-ftalks which are a foot and a half long ; 

 they are winged ; thg lobes or fmall leaves are aSout 

 five inches long, and one ancJ a half broad in the mid- 



4 

 < 



-^-V 



^.., «^-. o" r- both . ^ 



'iinootK, and entire, having a few fmall indentures at 

 ' their points, and are placed alternate, of a pale green 

 ^^- colour; there are fourteen or fifteen of thefe lobes 

 ■ ranged along the midrib, or ftalk. The fruit rifes 

 up from the fide of the ftem, upon a ftiort thick foot- 

 ftalk, ftanding upright, and ftiaped like a club, hav- 

 ing many red feeds about the fize of large Peas, ftand- 

 ing in feparate cells round the central foot-ftalk, to 

 which they adhere. Thefe plants have their male 

 flowers on feparate plants from the fruit, for all thofe 



lants which have flowered in England are of the male 



ing often four or five feet long, and an inch and a 

 half broad at their bafe, where they embrace the ftalk, 

 and leffen gradually to the end, where they terminate 

 in a point. Thefe leaves are pliable, and hang down 

 all round the ftem ; they are entire, and of a deep 

 green, fmooth on both furfaces, and gready refemble 

 thofe of the common yellow Iris. As this plant has 

 not flowered in England, I can give no account of its 

 flowers ; but fo far as I can judge from the berries 

 which I have received, it may properly enough be 

 ranged in this genus. 



ind.^ 



Thefe plants lofe their leaves before the fruit 



The firft time when Dr. Houftoun 



■■r-'^' Xf .- 



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t t^ 



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is ripe annually. 



'taw thefe plants growing^at La Vera Cruz, they were 

 in full leaf, but on his return to the fame place three 



/months after, the fruit was then ripe, and all the 

 leaves were fallen off; and this he afterwards obferved 

 the following feafbh. 



The tenth fort was difcovered by the late Dr. Houf- 

 toun in the Spanifti Weft-Indies." This rifes with a 

 very tall :naked trunk, garniflied at the top with long 

 winged t)ranches or leaves, whole lobes are ipear- 

 fhaped and "plaited; 'they are of a fofter texture than 

 any of the othe'r forts, and for the moft part come 



■t>ut two from the fame point, fo ftand by pairs on the 

 jUme" fide of the midrib ; they have two lobes on a 

 fide a little above each other, but there is a great 

 fpace between every four lobes. The flowers come 

 out in long bunches from between the leaves, the 



':inale flowers hanging on long tender ftrings; but the 



'fruit, which is about the fize of a middling Plum, is 

 CoUefted into large bunches. 



The eleventh fort grows naturally in the Cape Verd 

 Iflands, from whence I had one of the plants brought 

 me, as alfo in the Madeira, from whence I have re- 

 cei^^'ed the feeds. This is called Dragon-tree, be- 

 caufe the infpiflTated juice of the plants becomes' a | 



1 



Ail thefe forts of Palms are propagated by feeds, 

 which ftiould be fown in the fame way as hath been 

 directed for the firft Ibrt, and the plants lliould af- 

 terward be treated in the fame manner; with this dif- 

 ference, that fuch of them as are nativesof very warm 

 countries, will require to be kept in a warmer air. 

 The fecond, third, fourth, fifth, fixth, feventh, 

 eighth, and ninth forts ftiould be conftantly kept in 

 the bark-bed in the ftove, othenyife the*' will not 

 make great progrefs in England ; and when they do 

 thrive, they grow in about twenty years too tall for 

 moft of the ftoves which are at prefent built here, nor 

 can we hope to fee many of them produce their fruit 

 in England ; fo the plants are preferved by the curi- 

 ous for their foliage, which being fo fingular and dif- 

 ferent from that of the European trees, renders tHcm 

 worthy of care. ' ' 



The other forts may be kept in a cTry ftove in v/inter 

 in a moderate temperature of air, and in the heat of 

 fummer they may be expofed to the open air in a warm 

 ftieltered fituation for about three months, but they 

 Ihould be removed into the ftove before the mi 

 frofts come on in the autumn. When thefe plai 

 kept in a moderate degree of warmth, they Ihouli 

 have but little water during the Winter feafon ; and in 

 the fummer, when they are expofed in the open air, 

 they muft not be often watered, unlefs the feafon is re- 

 markably dry and warm, for too much moifture will 

 foon deftroy them. The other management of tli 

 is nearly the fame as for the Date Palms, which is not 

 to cut their principal roots v/hen they are fliifted from 

 one pot to another, noi; to confine their roots too much; 

 but as the plants grow in fize, they fiiould annually 

 be removed into pots a fize Ir.rger than thofe they were 

 in the former year. The earth in which they are 

 planted, ftiould be li^ht, fo as to let the moifture 

 eafily pa'fs off; for if it is ftrong, and detains thci 

 moifture, the tender fibres of the roots will ror. 



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