42 THE PALMS OF EUROPE AND AFRICA. 



leaf-stalks are enveloped in membranous sheathSy 

 or fringed with very tough fibrous matter. The 

 leaves are pinnate or feathered, and the leaflets 

 are alternate, and of a bright, lively green. 

 Near the base of the leaf, these leaflets are 

 often three feet long, but even then they are 

 not one inch in breadth, neither do they open 

 flat, but remain somewhat folded, with a ridge 

 in the middle like the keel of a boat. Before 

 they expand, they form a conical bud in the 

 centre of the crown of leaves, and are so closely 

 packed one upon another, as to form a mass 

 called " the cabbage," from its likeness to that 

 vegetable. It is a delicate esculent, and in taste 

 much resembles a fresh chesnut ; but as the 

 removal of it would occasion the death of the 

 tree, it is seldom used except in those trees 

 which are cut down for the sake of the sap or 

 juice. When the leaves are yoimg, they are 

 twisted together and matted up with loose llbrcs, 

 which open and disperse as the leaf expands. 

 The young leaflet is also armed at the extre- 

 mity with a hard, black spine or thorn. The 

 leaves are firmer and more stiff than those of 

 any ordinary tree. It should be observed, that 

 the lower leaves of the crown droop and wither 

 every year, and are cut off at the base in such 

 a manner that the stumps left upon the trunk, 



