PALM 



PALM 



1193 



sweet as well as the starch-hold- 

 ing fruits are at the command of 

 the inhabitants. From many spe- 

 cies are cut out the soft terminal 

 bud (heart), which is eaten as 

 Palm salad, and from other very 

 large species the young stems are 

 cut off and the great quantity of 

 sweet sap is worked to sugar, or 

 arrac, or is used as Palm wine. 

 Many stems furnish excellent 

 building wood, and in the artistic 

 industries of the Malays and Pa- 

 puas as well as that of the natives 

 of Brazil, such Palms furnish not 

 only the main timbers of their 

 huts, but the leaves are plaited 

 and used for the sides and_ the 

 roof. Other leaves cut in small 

 strips give them coverings, mats, 

 fans, shields, complete clothing 

 and hats. Even the spines are 

 used as tips for spears, for tat- 

 tooing - paints and for hooks ; 

 whereas the fish-line itself is 

 made of the strong fibers of 

 other species. Other uses, as 

 that of the betel nut (Areca), in 

 chewing, are worthy of mention 

 also." 



As the trunk of the Palm rises, 

 the leaves xmderneath the crown 

 die and fall. Usually the old 

 petioles, or their bases, remain 

 for some time, forming a shaggy 

 capital to the column ; this is well 

 marked in the large or Cabbage 

 Palmetto of the South. The 

 Palms are mostly trees, and some 

 of them rise to the height of 

 nearly 200 ft., but some are climb- 

 ing and others are low shrubs. 

 In some species the steins are 

 prickly. Usually they make very 



straight, comely boles, but a few species produce 

 branches above. The flowers of Palms usually arise 

 underneath or in the crown, from the axils of the 

 leaves. The clusters are really spadices, although often 

 branched, and are covered in the bud by a dry spathe 

 composed of one or several leaves or parts. The re- 

 mains of these spathes are well shown in Fig. 1497, p. 

 1100. In the upper cluster on the left the spathe is 

 arching over the fruits. The blossoms are relatively 

 small, and usually dull -colored and not showy. The 

 flowers are perfect or unisexual, 3-merous, the seg- 

 ments usually 6 in two series, stamens usually 3 or 6, 

 ovary usually 3-loculed or the 3 carpels wholly separate, 

 stigmas 3 and usually sessile. The fruit is various, 

 being either a drupe or hard berry-like structure, often 

 edible. 



The genera chiefly known to horticulturists are the 

 following: 



TRIBE ARECE^E. Lvs. pinnatisect, the leaflets free or 

 joined so as to form a plaited limb, the sides in ver- 

 nation reduplicate: fls. monoecious or dioecious: seeds 

 umbilicate, with ventral raphe and dorsal embryo. 



Areca, Pinanga, Kentia, Hydriastele, Kentiopsis, 

 Hedyscepe, Nenga, Archonthophcenix, Rhopalostylis, 

 Dictyosperma, Ptyehosperma, Cyrtostachys, Drymo- 

 phloeus, Cyphophoenix, Clinostigma, Cyphosperma, 

 Euterpe, Acanthophoenix, Oreodoxa, Bacularia, Lino- 

 spadix, Howea, Ceroxylon, Verschaffeltia, Dypsis. 

 Chamaedorea, Hyophorbe, Roscheria, Geonoma, Calyp- 

 trogryne, Wallichia, Didymosperma, Arenga, Caryota, 

 Phytelephas. 



TRIBE PHCEKICE^E. Lvs. pinnatisect, segments acumi- 

 nate and with induplicate sides in vernation: spa- 

 dices interfoUar, the spathe solitary: fls. dioecious: 

 carpels 3, only one maturing, the stigma terminal: 

 seed strongly ventralhj silicate, the embryo dorsal. 

 Phoenix. 



1620. A Palm house , 



TRIBE CORYPHE^E. Lvs. fan-shaped, wedge-shaped or 

 orbicular, plaited, more or less cut, the lobes with 

 induplicate sides: spadices interfoUar, the spathes 

 many: fls. iisually perfect: ovary entire or S-lobed, 

 or sometimes the 1-3 carpels distinct, the ovule erect: 

 pericarp usually smooth: seeds with ventral raphe 

 and small hilum. 

 Corypha, Sabal, Washingtonia, Chamserops, Rhapido- 



phyllum, Acanthorhiza, Brahea, Erythea, Pritchardia, 



Licuala, Livistona, Trachycarpus, Rhapis, Thrinax. 



TRIBE LEPIDOCARYE^. Lvs. pinnatisect or fan-shaped, 

 the segments with reduplicate sides in vernation: 

 spadices terminal or axillary, the spathes numerous: 

 fls. polygamo-monoecious: ovary entire, more or less 

 3-loculed: fr. clothed with reflexed, shining, imbri- 

 cate, oppressed scales: seed with dorsal raphe and 

 ventral embryo. 

 Calamus, Ceratolobus, Raphia. 



TRIBE BORASSKS:. Lvs. orbicular, the segments fan-* 

 shaped and the sides induplicate: spadices inter- 

 foliar, the spathes many and sheathing: fls. dioecious, 

 the male minute and sunk in cavities on the spadix, 

 the female very large: ovary entire, 3-loculed, the 

 ovule ascending: fr. various. 

 Borassus, Lodoicea, Latania, Hyphsene. 



TRIBE COCOINE^:. Lvs. pinnatisect, the leaflets with 

 reduplicate sides: spadices interfoUar, unisexual or 

 androgynous, the spathes 2 or more: inferior fls. often 

 in 3's, the middle one female: ovary 1-7-loculed: fr. 

 large, drupe-like, 1-7-loculed, the stigma terminal, 

 the endocarp or shell hard and woody and provided 

 with 3-7 pores. 

 Bactris, Astrocaryum, Acrocomia, Martinezia, EIis. 



Diplothemium, Cocos, Maximiliana, Scheelea, Attalea, 



Jubaea. 



There is very little accessible monographic literature 



on the Palms. Martius' "Historia Natural is Palmarum." 



