THE PALM FAMILY 



ARECACE^ Reichenbach 



ONSISTING of some 130 genera with about 1000 species of woody 

 plants, most of which are tall, upright trees, some have long, creeping 

 stems at or near the surface of the soil, others have very short, upright 

 stems or heads, and a few, like the genus Calamus, are chmbers. 

 They are indigenous to the warmer portions of both hemispheres, but fossil rem- 

 nants have been found as far north as Greenland. 



They are of considerable economic value and serve a wide range of utilities. 

 The wood, although ver)' inferior to that of most other trees, is largely used in the 

 tropics for general construction. The fruits of many kinds are edible and used as 

 food, especially the Date palm, PJumix dactylifera, of northern Africa, and the 

 Coconut. Fixed oils of great value for food and many other purposes are ex- 

 pressed from the fruit of some; most important of these, aside from Coconut oil, 

 being Palm oil, derived from EIcfIs guineensis Jacquin, of western Africa. A wax 

 called Camauba wax is the exudation of the leaves of Copernicia cerijera (Arrado) 

 Martius, of South America. The sap of several, especially the Sugar palm, Arenga 

 saccharifem Labillardiere, and the Coconut palm, yields much sugar; the juices 

 are also fermented into a variety of alcoholic beverages and into vinegar. Sago 

 is obtained from the soft inner portion of the stem of the Sago palm, Metroxylon 

 Sagu Rottboell, of the East Indies. The large hard bony seed of Phytelephas 

 macrocarpa Ruiz and Pavon, of South America, known as vegetable ivor}', is made 

 into many very useful small articles, such as buttons. Rattan is the flexible stem 

 of various species of Calamus from the East Indies ; the fruits of some species also 

 exude a red, resin-Hke balsam, known as Dragon's blood in the drug trade. That 

 all-important, oriental masticatory. Betel nut, is the seed of Areca Catechu. The 

 leaves of numerous kinds of palms are used for thatching the houses of the tropics, 

 and are also separated into narrow strips and woven into hats, matting, ropes, and 

 other useful articles. 



The palms have ample, alternate leaves, derived from a single bud at the end 

 of the stem; these are usually cleft, divided or parted, either palmately or pin- 

 nately, often with prickly or filamentiferous margins; petiole-bases imbricated 

 and often prickly. The flowers, usually in more or less compound axillaiy clus- 

 ters, are perfect or polygamous, the 2-ranked perianth consisting of a 3-lobed or 

 3-parted calyx, the corolla equally parted or lobed; stamens usually 6, sometimes 

 9 to 12, their filaments dilated or united at the base, their anthers introrse; the 

 pistil consists of 3 carpels, united or distinct; ovules soUtar}^ in each carpel. The 



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