THE PALM FAMILY 145 



8. Enemies. — Among the animals which destroy the tree and 

 its fruits may be mentioned the rat, which bites a hole into the 

 nut in oxdej: to get at the kernel, and the Goliath beetle (Oryctes 

 rhinoceros), which damages the trees by cutting large holes in them 

 through the young leaf-shoots. When the leaves open, signs of 

 the beetle's work are shown. 



Other Palms. 



The family to which the Cocoanut Palm belongs, the Falmce^ 

 is essentially a tropical one. The unbranched trunks, marked 

 with the scars of the leaf-stalks, and their terminal crown of 

 noble, evergreen leaves, are characteristic of the order. So are 

 the unisexual Howers, thickly arranged in panicles or spikes 

 within a protecting spathe. Various species of this useful order 

 are commonly known, as they grow everywhere in the tropics. 



Perhaps the commonest in Southern India is the Palmyra 

 Palm (Borassiis flabelUformis; Kan. Tali; Mai. Talam; Tarn, 

 Panai; Tel. Tati; Hin. Tad— Plate No. 640). This tree chiefly 

 grows on the slopes from the cultivated valleys to the plateaus 

 above, or on sandy plains near the coast. 



The leaves are fan-shaped, often with a spiral twist, their 

 petioles being serrated and spinous on the edges. The flowers 

 are dioecious. The inflorescence of the male tree consists of 

 of several three-forked spikes, supported by a spathe, each fork 

 being about one foot long. The spikes contain hundreds of 

 minute flowers arranged in dense cymes, each of more than 

 twelve flowers, covered under imbricated scales. The top flower 

 appears from under the scale, and falls off after a day, making 

 room for the next lower one. The small flower has three whitish 

 petals with brown streaks and six yellow stamens. The spike 

 of the female tree is about one foot and a half in length, each 

 flower being wrapped up in half a dozen petals, and its size being 

 that of a cherry. The full-grown fruit is dark-brown, and half 

 the size of a cocoanut, with very tough fibres. There are three 

 seeds inside, consisting each of a jelly-like, hollow kernel — the 

 endosperm — with the germ or embryo at the end. 



