THE PALMS OF AMEIUCA. 151 



(^Oi'codoxa oleracea,) a palm wliich abounds in 

 Jamaica, and others of the AYest Indian islands, 

 ■where it is commonly known as the " cabbage 

 palm." It is familiar to most persons from the 

 allusions to it in the favourite tale of Pau:l and 

 Virginia, and from the oft-repeated fact that a 

 tree of the growth of half-a-century is some- 

 times cut down for the sake of the single bud 

 which terminates it, and wliich is called the 

 " cabbage." It is found in great abundance in 

 the mountainous parts of the "West Indian 

 Islands, and grows to the height of one hundred 

 to two hundred feet, with a trunk not more 

 than six or seven inches in diameter. The 

 great height of this delicately slender stem, 

 together with its terminal plume of feathery 

 leaves, each fifteen feet long, give it a most 

 graceful appearance. The leaves are divided 

 in a pinnated manner, and the leaflets are deep 

 green, and several feet long. The unexpanded 

 leaves are arranged so closely one over the 

 other as to obstruct all access of light, which 

 causes them to be of a very tender and delicate 

 nature. It is this which forms the cabbage, 

 which is considered a great delicacy either raw 

 or boiled. Independently of the use of this 

 palm as an article of food, its trunk when felled 

 and exposed to the air quickly rots in the 



