OF THE PALMS. 29 



the tropical zone, iu latitude 28° north, it is 

 equivalent to from 9,000 to 10,000 feet on the 

 Andes of Quito. The distinguished botanist, 

 Don Jose Caldas, found three species of palms 

 in tlie Parama de Guanacos, near Quito, in tlie 

 immediate vicinity of the limits of perpetual 

 snow, and therefore, probably, at an elevation of 

 14,000 feet, and corresponding with the latitude 

 of Iceland. 



Many palms, such as the cocoa-nut and the 

 dwarf' fan palm, {Chamm'ops,) are peculiar to 

 sea-coasts and the low lands in their immediate 

 vicinity, and do not seem to flourish elsewhere. 

 A very few species are social plants, that is, 

 naturally grow in large clusters, or woods, 

 and not by individuals scattered here and there 

 over the face of the country. (The common 

 heath, the furze, the pines, and firs, are good 

 examples of social plants familiar to ourselves.) 

 Of such among the palms are Mauritia Jlexuosa, 

 the Moriche palm, which tenants the South 

 American savannahs ; Chamcerops humilis, the 

 dwarf European palm which covers whole tracts 

 of land at the estuary of the Ebro and in 

 Valencia ; and Chamcerops mocini, which Hum- 

 boldt discovered on the Pacific shore of Mexico. 

 It is remarkable, however, that the vast majority 

 of species are confined to very small districts 



