590 PALMS. 



it reveals to him its relation to the vegetable world of past 

 ages, showing those laws of growth which unite the past and 

 the present. 



The tree-ferns — the chamgerops, the pandanus, the arau- 

 carias — are modern representatives of past types. The former 

 is a palm belonging to the ancient vegetable Avorld, but having 

 its representative in our days. The modem chamaerops, with 

 its fan-like leaves spreading on one level, stands, with respect 

 to its structure, lower than the palms with pinnate leaves, 

 which belong almost exclusively to our geological age, and 

 have numerous leaflets rangino^ alonor either side of a central 

 axis. The young palms, while their elders tower fifty feet 

 above them, are often not more than two inches high ; and to 

 whatever genus they may belong, invaiiably resemble the 

 chamserops, — having their leaves extending fan-like on one 

 plane, instead of being scattered along a central axis, as in 

 the adult tree. The infant palm is, in fact, the mature 

 chamserops in miniature ; showing that among plants, as 

 among animals — at least in some instances — there is a corre- 

 spondence between the youngest stages of growth in the 

 higher species of a given type, and the earliest introduction 

 of that type on earth. 



More gregarious in their habits than most other palms are 

 the urucuri palms — Attalea excelsa — gTOves of which beautify 

 the higher lands, and gi*ow in vast numbers under the crowns 

 of the more lofty ordinary forest trees ; their smooth columnar 

 stems being generally fifty feet in height, while their broad, 

 finely pinnated leaves, interlocking above, form arches and 

 woven canopies of elegant and diversified shapes. The fruit, 

 in size and shape like the date, has a pleasant flavoured 

 juicy pulp, and falls to the gi^ound when ripe. 



