THE PALM TKIBE. 



51 



"If that is the case," said Henry, "I dare say 

 there is a great deal of seed : and it is a wonder 

 that the palm ever grows 

 up alone, and blooms ' in 

 solitary grace/ as Mary's 

 lines say." 



"Its places of growth 

 are various," said his fa- 

 ther; "so that one who 

 has closely studied the 

 habits of this noble race, 

 says, ' not a few love the 

 humid banks of rivulets 

 and streams; others oc- 

 cupy the shores of the 

 ocean, and some ascend 

 into alpine regions ; some 

 collect into dense forests, 

 others spring up singly 

 or in clusters over the 



PALM BLOSSOM, 



plains.' But this you must understand of the 

 sunny regions within the tropics, beyond which 

 these plants do not extend. 



" In palms we have the grandest form of endogens, 

 many of the species consisting of trees of gigantic 



