PALM 



721 



Fig. 1. Cliamaedorea aurantiaca. 



and delicious vegetable. Many yield by incision 

 or otlierwise an abundance of sweet sap, from which 

 sugar, refreshing drinks, wines, spirits, and vinegar 

 are obtained. Their leaves are used for thatch, 

 and for the making of mats, baskets, hats, 

 umbrellas, thread, cord, and clothing. They yield 

 excellent and inexhaustible materials, and they are 

 in some cases a natural substitute for writing- 

 paper, the records and writings of many eastern 

 peoples lieing inscribed upon them. 



The order comprises, according to Hooker and 

 Bent ham in Genera Plantarum. oetween 130 and 

 140 genera, and the number of species known is 

 variously estimated by different authorities at 

 from 000 to 1000. 



The genus Chanifedorea is composed of about 

 sixty species, all of slender, graceful habit, their 

 smooth stems often not exceeding an inch in 

 diameter, though they may be twenty or more feet 

 higli. They are used" in South America for making 



bridges, as 

 the bamboo 

 is in China 

 and India. 

 The flowers 

 of several of 

 the species 

 including 

 those of C, 

 aurantiaca 

 (lig. 1) are 

 highly es- 

 teemed as 

 a culinary 

 vegetable in 

 some of the 



countries of Central America, but for this purpose 

 tln'.v must be extracted from the spathe before it 

 bursts. The fruit of Leopuldina major, called by 

 the natives of Brazil Jard-assn, is collected by them 

 ami burned, and the ash, after being washed, is 

 used as a aulatUute for salt. It is described, how- 

 ever, aa being bitter rather than saline. ./IK/O-/O' 

 eiliilif also a native of Brazil produces fruit in 

 size, shape, and colour like that ot the sloe. From 

 the fruit of this species a beverage is made by 

 infusion which is much relished, h. oleraeea pro- 

 duces an edible and nutritious cabbage. flie 

 XiliHiiii of the Malays of the Eastern Archipelago 

 is Oiicospernut JUameutuim, the cabbage of which 

 is mure highly esteemed than that of any other 

 palm indigenous to that region. From the fruit of 

 (Kiinrnr/iitt hatavn a wholesome beverage called 

 Ptilawa -yiikisst is made on the Kio Negro. The 

 fruit of Oreodoxa regia, an extremely handsome 

 palm, a native of Cuba, is too acrid for human 

 food, but is used there for fattening hogs. 



Areca catechu, is the Betel-nut Palm ( see AREC.V ). 

 The fruit enters into the masticatory of that name 

 so much used in India* It contains gallic acid, 

 much tannin, a principle analogous to catechu gum, 

 a volatile oil, a red insoluble matter, a fatty sub- 

 stance, and some salts. A spuriims kind of catechu 

 is obtained from the nuts in two colours one dark 

 or black, which is extremely astringent ; the other 

 yellowish brown, which is less astringent and more 

 pure. Besides being used as a masticatory and in 

 medicine in cases of dysentery, the substance is em- 

 ployed in tunning leather and in dyeing calico. The 

 terminal shoot of this palm furnishes an excellent 

 ciibbage, as also do several other species of Areca. 

 But the true Cabbage Palm is A. oleraMO, a noble 

 aiiecies indigenous to the West Indies, attaining 

 tlie height of 170 to '200 feet, with a diameter 

 of stem of alKiut 7 feet. The leaves are pinnate, 

 about 20 feet long, the pinnules in full-sized leaves 

 bi-ing often 3 feet in length. The terminal hud 

 or cabbriffe is enclosed among many thin snow- 

 358 



white brittle flakes. It has the flavour of the 

 almond, but with greater sweetness, and is boiled 

 and eaten with meat. As its removal causes the 

 death of the tree, it is regarded as an extravagant 

 delicacy only rarely to be enjoyed, because of the 

 great importance of the other products which the 

 tree yields. The inflorescence is extracted from the 

 spathes before they open, are pickled, and esteemed 

 a delicate relish with meat. The nuts yield a 

 useful oil by decoction. The shell or outer hard 

 crust of the stein is employed in making gutters, 

 and the pith yields a kind of sago if extracted 

 immediately the tree is felled ; but if allowed to 

 lie and decay on the ground, it becomes the breed- 

 ing ground of a peculiar grub, which is greatly 

 esteemed as a delicate article of food in Mar- 

 tinique and St Domingo. 



Ceroxylon (Iriartia) andicola, a native of Peru, 

 growing at an elevation of 8000-10,000 feet above 

 sea-level, is a handsome species rising to the height 

 of 160 or more feet. The stem exudes from the ' 

 annular cicatrices of the fallen leaves a resinous 

 substance called by the inhabitants cent de palma. 

 It is composed of about two parts of a yellow resin 

 and one part of wax, the texture of which is more 

 brittle than beeswax. A sub-resinous matter is 

 also extracted from it named ceroxylin, which 

 assumes the form of silky crystals, is soluble in 

 alcohol, and phosphorescent by friction. The exuda- 

 tion, mixed with certain proportions of wax or 

 tallow, is employed in candle-making. Besides the 

 resinous exudation the trunk yields a valuable and 

 durable timl>er, the leaves are excellent and durable 

 material for thatch, and they supply a strong, useful 

 fibre for the manufacture of ropes and cordage. 

 The Kiziuba Palm (C. exorrhiza) is a native of 

 Central and South America, and is a singular and 



Fig. 2. Arenga saccharifera. 



interesting tree on account of its peculiar habit of 

 growth. The roots all spring from the stem above 

 ground, every new root emerging from a point 

 somewhat higher on the stem than the one which 

 preceded it. And as the old roots decay as the 

 new are produced and penetrate the ground, a tree 

 of some age presents the curious spectacle of being 

 supported on three or four legs long enough and 

 wide enough apart to enable a man to pass between 

 them erect. The timlier is used in flooring and for 

 making umbrella-sticks, musical instruments, &c. 

 Blowpipes (q.v.) for poisoned arrows are made from 

 the stems of C. setiyera. 



The Sugar Palm {Arenga saccharifera, see fig. 2) 

 is a native of the Moluccas, Cochin-China, and the 

 Indian Archipelago, and is of immense value to the 



