268 Fruits and Fru it- Trees. 



a hundred and ninety feet. Not a single sideways shoot 

 ever breaks the upward line till the summit is reached, 

 and then at last we have the leaves leaves as large as 

 branches, and constituting a prodigious and evergreen 

 crown. Usually they are pinnate, sometimes fan-shaped ; 

 when pinnate, the exterior half-dozen are prone to arch 

 elegantly outwards and downwards. New leaves are con- 

 stantly rising from the centre of the crown. The older 

 ones die, though slowly, and the young ones take their 

 places, the column, under the hands of its green artificers, 

 steadily ascending with measured and majestic pace. To 

 a European visiting any tropical country where palm- 

 trees grow, the spectacle of a palm-grove, or even of a 

 single palm, is always one of supreme interest and attrac- 

 tiveness. The great radiating coronet of leaves and the 

 lofty pillar stand out so distinctly from all surrounding 

 vegetation as to catch the eye at once. The flowers of 

 the palm-trees are fashioned upon much the same plan 

 as those of lilies. Individually they are trifling and 

 unattractive, but the abundance is so vast that a cluster 

 contains, in many kinds, hundreds, and even thousands. 

 The bunches are developed from the very apex of the 

 stem, sometimes standing erect, and constituting an im- 

 mense thyrsus ; more usually hanging down from among 

 the bases of the leaf-stalks. In respect of their fruit the 

 palms vary more than in any other particular ; the pre- 

 vailing disposition is towards the hard and nut-like; 

 sometimes it is soft and succulent. In point of habita- 

 tion they are essentially tropical plants, though a few 



