MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 115 
men bamboo plants towering to a height of 40 feet form an 
arch in the north end of the palm house at the entrance to 
the fern house, the oldest cane measuring four inches in 
diameter. 
PALMS 
*The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is widely spread over 
southern Europe, northern Africa, and southeastern Asia, 
where it grows to a height of from 40 to 80 feet. Apart from 
the value of the fruits and fiber as food, the leaves are used 
by the Bedouin women for making hats. The date palm is 
cultivated in Bordighera exclusively for the leaves which are 
used as a decoration in church festivals. For this purpose the 
young growths are blanched by being tied together in bundles. 
*The Chinese fan palm (Livistona chinensis) is also used for 
decoration and may be seen in the Catholic churches on Palm 
Sunday. The large fan-shaped leaves with the divided ends 
are collected, the inner portion being made into fans and the 
remaining portion blanched and used in festivals. The Garden 
has frequently supplied young leaves of the fan palm for 
Jewish festivals in this city when other sources of supply have 
failed. 
*Coir palm (Trachycarpus excelsa) is a native of China and 
Japan. The dense fibers surrounding the leaves, as well as 
the leaves themselves, are used by the Chinese and Japanese 
in making hats. In shape these are entirely different from 
those made of bamboo, having a short conical crown, with a 
tassel made from the trunk fibers, and a very short, turned-up 
brim. 
*The Bermuda palm (Sabal Blackburniana) is a native of 
the West Indies where it is commonly ealled the giant fan 
palm. The leaves are stripped of the fibrous portion and made 
into hats by the natives. The leaves are also used as shingles 
on the native huts. 
*The dwarf fan palm (Chamaerops humilis) is a native of 
southern Europe where it rarely reaches a height of 20 feet. 
In Sicily the leaves are finely split and made into hats. The 
finished product is a rather rough, dirty yellow straw and 
resembles in shape the old-fashioned shepherd’s hat of Eng- 
land. In Arabia the fibers are split to a finer degree, the hat 
presenting a smoother finish and also a lighter color. 
The double cocoanut palm (Ledoicea sechellarum) is a 
native of the Seychelles Islands where it attains a height of 
from 50 to 100 feet. Before the discovery of these islands 
the large twin nuts were occasionally found floating in the 
