THE PLANT WOKLD 107 



CUBAN USES OF THE ROYAL PALM. 



By William Palmer. 



THE royal palm {Oreodoxa regia) is a widely distributed tree 

 throughout Cuba, aud is truly the tropical feature of the land- 

 scape. In the former more highly cultivated areas tliej'^ largely 

 occupy the hedgerows, thus being arranged in double rows along the 

 roadways, and in single rows along the dividing lines. This arrange- 

 ment is largely accidental, cultivation compelling the absence of the 

 young plants from the fields, and the hedge-rows offering a secluded 

 habitat until they are strong enough to need no shelter. In other 

 places the frequent fires have destroyed the trees on the higher areas, 

 so that one sees them oftenest along the banks of the watercourses. 

 The tree is a noble one, and occurs everywhere except among the pines 

 of the mountains. To the simple Cubans living remote from modern 

 civdlization, it furnishes many of his necessities, most of which perhaps 

 are contained in the following list. 



Posts. — Trees are felled and allowed to lie for a considerable time 

 before they are cut into lengths and split. 



Fences. — These are made of strips of the wood tied upright to cross- 

 pieces and close together, so that chickens cannot get through. 



Columns. — They are used as the main supports of a house, the up- 

 per portion of the trunk being used. 



Boards. — When the interior of a felled tree is rotted, it can readily 

 be split and the pieces trimmed to the required length and width, which 

 is necessarily narrow. 



Cqfee mortars. — Most palms are somewhat swollen at about one- 

 third of their length from the ground; this is cut out for about the 

 height of a table, the wider end is hollowed out, and with a pestle of 

 similar or different wood, forms a mortar and pestle which is used to 

 crush the roasted coffee beans. When not in use, the hollow may hold 

 the family supply of beans, and it is always handy to support the fam- 

 ily wash-tub, a shallow broad article made often of the same wood. 



House walls. — The basal part of the leaf stalk is a broad, long 

 woody portion which clasps the trunk for its whole length, and whose 

 lower end leaves a narrow horizontal scar where it was attached to the 

 trunk. These fall with the leaf, and are dampened and flattened by 

 weights. Bun lies of these leaf bases are an article of sale in places 

 where the palms are scarce, and they may be seen piled up in stores 

 for sale. They a-'e trimmed and tied to the framework of the house. 

 They are placed in two rows, the side of one overlapping another, and 

 the lower ends of the ui)per row overlapping the lower row. They also 

 serve to cover anything, and not unfrequently are used as tables. 



