6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 98 



access that at least a few are allowed to mature to the stage of pro- 

 ducing seeds. These the birds scatter, so that rare individuals may be 

 found. 



Appreciation of the royals and similar palms for decorative plant- 

 ing, as in southern Florida and California, is a relatively recent devel- 

 opment, mostly in the present century, though now attaining great 

 proportions. The real-estate values of palms in Florida would be 

 reckoned in many millions, single well-grown individuals often being 

 bought at high prices, $500 or more. 



Some of the related palms in South America, notably the assai palm 

 of Brazil, are spared by the natives for the sake of their small oily 

 fruits, like grapes or cherries, borne in huge clusters. A valuable food 

 beverage is prepared, sometimes called "wine" on account of its rich 

 purple color, though not fermented, and by others compared to choco- 

 late. Alfred Russell Wallace and other scientific travelers have given 

 very favorable accounts of the assai as tasty and wholesome, refer- 

 ring to its extensive use in the district of Para as "one of the greatest 

 luxuries that the place affords." Similar uses are reported of the 

 fruits of related palms in Brazil and Guiana. 



That the Cocos Island palm has not been exterminated no doubt is 

 explained by the failure to establish permanent settlements, and it may 

 be hoped that protection will be given, should the island be occupied 

 in the future. The palm probably can be cultivated in the Canal Zone, 

 possibly also in Florida, in sheltered locations, and as a conservatory 

 palm would be very striking. Fortunately Dr. Schmitt was able to 

 obtain a quantity of seeds, which arrived in good condition and were 

 planted at once, but with most of the palms germination requires sev- 

 eral months, and the young seedlings grow very slowly. Of the sev- 

 eral seedlings also brought from Cocos Island by Dr. Schmitt, two 

 survived in the Washington greenhouses of the Department of 

 Agriculture. 



OTHER PALMS ON SMALL ISLANDS 



Although it is not impossible that the palm of Cocos Island may 

 also occur on the mainland, this is hardly to be expected in view of 

 the localized distribution of many species and monotypic genera. It is 

 much more probable that Cocos Island will share with several other 

 small islands in remote parts of the world the distinction of produc- 

 ing a strictly endemic palm, found nowhere else, except as some of 

 the island species are being cultivated in other countries. The most 

 important commercial species, the so-called "Kentia" palm, Denca 



