410 FAMILY HERBAL. 



of possessing these bad qualities : but it is most 

 probable that they belong to neither ; and that 

 fancy, rather than any thing really known, gave 

 birth to the opinion. 



The Date Tree. Palma dac.tylifera. 



A TREE of the warmer countries, very unlike 

 those of our part of the world. The trunk is thick 

 and tall, and is all the way up of the same bigness ; 

 it has no hark, but u covered with the rudiments of 

 leaves, and the inner part of the trunk when it 13 

 young is eatable. At the top of the trunk stand a 

 vast quantity of leaves, some erect and some droop- 

 ing, and from the bosoms of these grow the flowers 

 and the fruit ; but it is remarkable that the flowers 

 grow upon the trees only, and the fruit on some 

 others. If there be not a tree of the male kind, that 

 is a (lowering tree near the fruit of the female, it 

 will never naturally ripen. In this case they cut 

 off bunches of the flowers, and shake them over 

 the herd of the female tree, and this answers the 

 purpose 



All plants have what may be called male arid fe- 

 male parts in their flowers. The male parts are 

 certain dusty particles : the female parts are the 

 rudiments of the fruits. In some plants these are 

 in the same flowers as in the tulip. Those black 

 trains which dust the hands are the male part, and 

 th", green thing in the middle of them is the female: 

 it becomes afterwards the fruit or seed vessel. In 

 other plants, as melons, and many more, the male 

 parts grow in some flowers, and the female parts in 

 others, on the same plant : and in others, the male 

 flowers and the female grow upon absolutely dif- 

 ferent plants, but of the same kind. This is tire 

 case in the date tree as wc see, and it is same though 



