THE PALMS OF EUROPE AND AFRICA. G3 



that these two extra- American species should 

 be the most important of the whole section. 

 It is to be noticed, however, that the cocoa nut 

 is exceedingly abundant in America, and that 

 the Elais is cultivated in South America, and 

 is perhaps identical with the West Indian IJlais 

 occidentalis, a palm found throughout those 

 islands, the thatch tree of Bro^vn's Jamaica. 



It derives its name from Elaia, the olive 

 tree, because an oil is yielded by the fruit of its 

 principal species. The stem is tall, twenty or 

 thirty feet high, the upper part of which (and 

 sometimes almost the whole stem) is clothed 

 and completely concealed by the leaf stalks, 

 which remain after the leaves are decayed and 

 have dropped off. These leaf stalks are broad, 

 and are edged with strong thorns, and give the 

 trunk somewhat the appearance of being beset 

 with the blades of great double-edged saws ; 

 the leaves are twelve to twenty in number, and 

 nearly erect, forming a splendid crown. They 

 are from ten to fifteen feet long, and winged 

 with very numerous sword-shaped leaflets, each 

 about eighteen inches in length. The fruit is 

 of an oval shape, and varies from the size of a 

 pigeon's egg to that of a hen's. It is quite 

 smooth, of a rich yellow colour, and red on one 

 side. It is composed of a thick, oily, fungous 



