CHAPTER I. 



was worn as. a badge of victory at the Olympic games, 

 and embroidered on the garments of Eoman emperors, 

 is now consecrated at Rome on Palm Sunday by 

 the Head of Christendom, and distributed to all the 

 churches of the eternal city. 



The Palm was from ancient times a symbol of 

 Palestine. Thus on the coins of Vespasian and Titus, 

 struck to commemorate the conquest of Judrea, a 

 female figure sits weeping beneath a Palm tree, with 

 the legend JUDAEA CAPTA (Fig. 4). 



The Date Palm loves to grow, as the Arabs say, 

 with its foot in water and its head in fire. It is fiery 

 enough here on the Riviera, one would think, yet 

 many of the trees do not succeed perfectly ; perhaps 

 the gardeners do not quite understand them. Some 

 are little more than stem, with a wisp of ragged fronds 

 protruding at the top, like a pellitory on a gate post. 

 In contrast with these meagre and stalky specimens 

 we see other palms almost devoid of trunk : the dense 

 growth of foliage spreads outwards from the ground, 

 so that they look like Cycads. Others again have 

 spindle-shaped trunks growing thicker and thicker 

 towards the top, and so slender at the base that one 

 is surprised they can remain erect. P. Canariensis, 

 the Canary Date Palm, is stronger and hardier. It 

 promises to be one of the chief ornaments of the 

 Riviera ; but the fruit is small and worthless. 



In order that the fruit of the Date Palm may 

 come to perfect maturity, the temperature should rise 

 daily for some months in the year above 40 C. (about 

 105 F.). Nevertheless the tree can endure without 

 injury five or even, seven Centigrade degrees of 

 frost. 



