466 BOTANY. 



Calamus Draco, of tlie same region as the preceding, yields a reddish 

 resinous substance known as Dragon's Blood, and which is a secretion 

 coating the surface of the small fruits. Dragon's blood is used for col- 

 oring varnishes and for staining horn. 



Sagus Icevis and S. RumpMi, Sago Palms, are trees nine to fifteen 

 metres (30-50 feet) high, natives of Siam, the Indian Archipelago and 

 other islands of the East. The sago is obtained by splitting the trunks 

 and extracting the soft white pith ; this is thrown into tanks of water, 

 in which it is repeatedly washed and strained until a pure pulpy paste 

 is obtained. In this state, in order to preserve it, the natives keep it 

 under water, and it forms a large proportion of their food. For expor- 

 tation it is dried and granulated through sieves. A tree fifteen years 

 of age yields from six to eight hundred pounds of this nutritious 

 material. 



V. Tribe Arecinece.Areca Cateehu,t\ie Betel Palm of Cochin 

 China and the Malayan peninsula and islands, produces a fruit of the 

 size of a hen's egg, which is the famous Betel Nut or Pinang of the far 

 East. The nut is cut into pieces and rolled up with lime, gambler, etc., 

 in a leaf of the betel pepper, and chewed as tobacco is in this country. 



Caryota urens, of India, is one of the wine or ' Toddy" palms. It 

 grows to the height of fifteen to eighteen metres (50-60 feet), and has a 

 large crown of compound winged leaves. It is said that this tree will 

 yield one hundred pints of toddy in twenty-four hours. 



Ceroxylon andicola, the Wax Palm of the mountains of New Granada, 

 is a tall tree, bearing large pinnate leaves five to six metres (15-20 feet) 

 long. It is found on the mountain sides nearly to the snow line. The 

 trunk is coated with a resinous wax, which is scraped off by the natives 

 and used for making candles. 



Chamcedorea of several species, climbing palms of New Granada are 

 interesting on account of their stems being used in forming suspension 

 bridges. 



Saguerus saccJiarifer of the Malayan Archipelago is a valuable Sago 

 Palm. It is twelve to fifteen metres (40-50 feet) high, and bears enor- 

 mous pinnate leaves ; a tree grown in the Kew Gardens bore leaves 

 twelve metres (40 feet) in length. Sugar is also obtained from the 

 juice which fiows from the wounded spadix. 



559. Cohort VIII. Potamales. Mostly herbaceous wa- 

 ter plants, with all of the parts of the flower distinct ; the 

 embryo large, and endosperm wanting. 



Order Naiadaceae. The Pond-weeds. 



Order Alismaceee. The Water Plantain Family. This order is 

 interesting from the fact of its evident relationship to the Ranales 

 (Cohort 36) among Dicotyledons, as long ago suggested by Adanson, 

 and insisted upon by Lindley. (Figs. 357-9.) 



