246 



ISLAND OF C E Y L O N. 



mit a lubftance, in fliape like the .cone of the Nor-zvay fir : the 

 female, a ftem about a yard long, out of the fummit of which 

 iffues feveral upright pinnated leaves, and fruit of the fize of a 

 plumb : the lafl: faftened to a llender flalk, and pendent. Thefe 

 contain two nuts. 



This plant is of great ufe as a food in every country it grows 

 in. The young Ihoots are drefTed like afparagus ; the fruit is 

 alfo comrnonly eaten, and forms an ingredient in broths. The 

 foft wood is chewed with the Areca nut. 



Not Native. This fpecies is not indigenous in Ceylon^ and is only culti- 



vated, and that rarely, in that ifland. In Malabar it grows on 

 certain rocky and fandy mountains, and is called there, Todda 

 Panna\ fee Rbeede, iii. p. 9, tab. 13. 21. It is faid to have a 

 great fympathy with iron, and that if dying, will revive on 

 .having an iron wedge driven into it. The fruit is eaten by the 

 Malabars with fugar, (Saccbaro St. Thonmo), The 'i'tomi/ls^ or 

 Chrijlians of St. "Thomas.) deck their churches with its branches. 



RuMPHius, i. p, 91, denies that this is the genuine fpecies, 

 and we muft allow his authority. At tab. xxiv. he gives the 

 true kind, which is the fame with the Cycas r£Voluta of Thun- 

 be}~g, FL 'Japon. p. 229, the pith of which is the famous Sago, 

 In time of war the Japanefe foldiers carry it with them in 

 their campaigns; fo fmall a portion will ferve to fupport a lingie 

 man, that the emperor prohibits the exporting any of the trees 

 to a foreign enemy, under pain of death, for fear of imparting 

 to a hoftile neighbour the fame benefit Japan enjoys from this 

 nutritive food. 



Coffee Tree. The Coffee free has been introduced, and fuccceds greatly. 

 ^ Nothing 



