40 SOUTH AFRICAN FLOWERING PLANTS. 



" the stems will burn even when green, because the 

 outer bark consists of cork well saturated with wax.^ 

 On the older branches this layer is about one-tenth of 

 an inch thick ; but if one extracts the w^ax, the layer 

 is composed of several years' growth, glued together by 

 the wax, and forms a solid mantle entirely enveloping 

 the stem." Palms, which mostly live in hot, moist 

 countries, do not as a rule produce wax ; but there is 

 one called the " Wax-palm," which happens to grow on 

 the mountains of South America. 



^ It appears to be more like copul, and brittle, being soluble in 

 alcohol. 



