100 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



houses and churches of Carthagena and New Granada ; and the 

 Oenocarpus disticha is cultivated in Brazil, as it furnishes an 

 excellent oil for culinary purposes. The Pirijao (Gulielma 

 speciosa) is planted round the huts of the Indians, and replaces 

 in some districts the Mauritia as the tree of life. The Piapava 

 (Attalia funifeiri), whose stone-hard dark-brown nuts are 

 manufactured into rosaries by the inhabitants of Villa Nova 

 de Olivenza, is far more important, on account of its fibres, 

 which, unknown a few years ago, are now imported into Eng- 

 land in large quantities, where they serve for making brooms ; 

 and the amazingly hard nuts of the Cabeza di Negro {Fhytele- 

 phas), rivalling ivory in whiteness, solidity, and beauty, are 

 extensively used by our turners for similar purposes. 



Though no trees are more characteristic of the tropics than 

 the palms, yet specimens are found far within the temperate 

 regions. Along with the date-tree the Chamoerops humilis 

 graces the environs of Nizza, and the Areca sapida flourishes 

 in the mild insular climate of New Zealand (38° S. lat). In 

 Africa, the Hyphcene coriacea grows at Port Natal (30° S. lat.), 

 and in America the palms extend to 35° S. lat., both in the 

 Pampas of Buenos Ayres, and in Chili, where the Choco indi- 

 cates the extreme limits of the family. 



As these species are able to exist under a mean annual 

 temperature of 58°, they might possibly be made to adorn the 

 gardens of Penzance ; most palms, however, require a mean 

 temperature of from 70° to 72°, and on advancing towards 

 the equator increase in beauty, stateliness of growth, and variety 

 of form. Their chief seats are the lower regions of the torrid 

 zone y but as some species range far to the north or south, 

 thus others ascend the mountain-slopes, almost to the limits 

 of perpetual snow. 



In South America, the Ceroxylon andicola and the Kunthla 

 montana are found growing at an altitude of 6,000 and 9,000 

 feet, and in the Paramo de Gruanacos, Humboldt even saw 

 palms 1 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. 



Besides the height of the shaft, the position of the leaves 

 serves chiefly to impart a more or less majestic character to the 

 palms: those with drooping leavesbeing far less stately than those 

 whose fronds shoot more or less upwards to the skies. Nothing 

 can exceed the elegance of the Jagua palm, which along with the 



