2056 A TEXTBOOK OF THEORETICAL BOTANY 



Areca is also of Indo-Malayan origin. The best known is A. catechu, 

 the Betel Nut Palm, which is grown for its nuts, which are really 

 the seeds. They are about the size of damsons and are cut into slices and 

 rolled in a leaf of Betel Pepper (P. betle) with a little lime. When chewed 

 it colours the saliva a bright red and acts as a stimulant for digestion. 

 It is now largely cultivated in the Asiatic tropics. Oreodoxa (Roystonea) is an 

 American genus of six species (Fig. 1994) of which O. regia, the Royal Palm, 

 is well known as an ornamental tree. Many tropical cities have one or more 

 avenues planted with this palm. O. oleracea, the Cabbage Palm, is used as 

 a vegetable, the young head being cut off and eaten. Ceroxylon andicolum 

 from the Andes yields Cera Wax which is secreted from the stem and is 

 used in making candles. Euterpe eduUs (Fig. 1995), the Assie Palm, possesses 

 edible fruits which when soaked in water provide a much appreciated 

 beverage. The genus Iriartea is interesting on account of its aerial roots 

 which somewhat resemble those of Paudanus. There are some ten species 

 occurring in South America. 



2. Cocoeae. The fruit is a drupe. Elaeis, Attalea, Cocos, Bactris and 

 Desmoncus. 



Several of these genera are of economic importance. Elaeis guineensis 

 occurs in Africa where it is known as the Oil Palm, because its fruits yield 

 a valuable oil which is used for making margarine and as a thick grease for 

 railway axles. 



The genus Attalea (Fig. 1996) has thirty South American species some 

 of which extend into the West Indies and Africa. A. cohuue yields an ivory- 

 like nut while A. fun if era is the source of Bahia piassava fibre. Bactris is also 

 an American genus with over 100 species. B. minor has edible fruits and is 

 known as the Peach Palm. Desmoncus contains twenty-five species which 

 are reedy palms climbing by hooks similar to those in Calamus; they occur 

 in tropical America. 



The most important genus is Cocos which contains sixty species. By 

 far the best known is C. nucifera (Fig. 1997), the Coconut, which is very 

 widely distributed throughout the tropics, especially in the islands of 

 Melanesia where it frequently forms a fringe around the smaller islands. 

 It grows particularly well by the sea and its fruits are adapted for distribu- 

 tion by water. Many an island has received its coconut palm as a result of 

 the nuts washed up on its beach. It is a tall palm with imparipinnate leaves 

 and densely clustered monoecious flowers. The stems are rarely vertical 

 but develop a gradual curve which some think is a phototropic response. 

 The fruits (really drupes) are large and one-seeded. Each consists of a 

 pericarp, the epicarp of which is leathery, while the mesocarp is fibrous and 

 the endocarp very hard, enclosing the seed which is surrounded by a thin 

 testa lined with a white endosperm. In the centre of the seed is a cavity 

 partly filled with a milky fluid. It should be noted that the Coconut as it 

 reaches this country has usually lost the fibrous outer pericarp. The uses 

 of the Coconut are numerous. The leaves are used for thatching and also 



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