226 IN A GLOUCESTERSHIRE GARDEN 



scientific botany of the palms, but two points may be 

 shortly noticed, one connected with the geography of 

 the plant, and the other with the history of scientific 

 botany. The geography of the plant is curious. Its 

 chief home is in the tropics, but it stretches into the 

 borders of the northern and southern temperate zones. 

 It is found in Asia, Africa, and America, Australia and 

 New Zealand; but in Europe the only species is the 

 Chamcerops Jmmilis, which grows near Nice, the extreme 

 northern limit of the family, while the extreme southern 

 limit is marked by a single member in the southern 

 island of New Zealand. But the curious thing about 

 the geographical distribution of the family is that of 

 the vast number of species and varieties (there are 

 said to be nearly 1200 species of palms, and in North 

 Africa alone nearly 40 varieties of the date palm), 

 each species (with very few exceptions) occupies a dis- 

 tinct and limited area, within which only it is found. 

 It is as if each county in England had a separate rose 

 or bramble, found nowhere else but in that particular 

 county. 



In the history of scientific botany the palm holds a 

 remarkable position. The plants are for the most part 

 (though not always) dioecious, the male and female 

 flowers being borne on different plants. Linnseus is 

 generally credited with having discovered the different 



