POLLINATION 113 



six comparatively large, waxy-looking scales will 

 constitute each male flower, while the female flower 

 will be composed of three carpels closely applied to 

 each other and forming what looks Hke a single solid, 

 oval body, and having six very tiny scales closely 

 applied to the base. The flower clusters can also be 

 distinguished at that stage by their smell." 

 ^^vlt must be noted, however, that in all parts of the 

 world monoecious date palms are occasionally found — 

 that is, palms on which one cluster will be composed of 

 male flowers and another of female flowers. In such 

 a case the female cluster will produce fruit if pollinated 

 by its brother, the male spadix. Again, hermaphro- 

 dite flowers are sometimes found, where several more 

 or less functional carpels and several more or less 

 functional stamens occur in the same flower; this 

 can only be classed as an abnormality. It appears 

 that the same tree may be normal one year and monoe- 

 cious the next, or may suddenly throw out a few 

 hermaphrodite flowers and never do so again, but 

 resume its normal functioning. Such cases are of 

 great interest to botanists, and anyone who may 

 observe palms of this kind should report on them. 

 For the commercial grower, they have no practical 

 importance. 



It is also worthy of note, in passing, that a date 

 palm sometimes flowers in the fall instead of the spring. 

 This has been the case on the coast of Southern 

 California, where the summers are cool; the palm 

 then carries its fruits half -matured through the winter, 

 and ripens them the following spring. It is also 

 doubtless the case with the varieties of dates reported 

 in Egypt, which bear two crops a year — the second 

 crop must be due to a fall flowering, the fruit of which 



